Akshay Kumar's Mission Raniganj takes the 'RRR route' to Oscars, makers submit film as independent entry to Academy
Mission Raniganj, Akshay Kumar's latest release, has been submitted by its makers as an independent entry for the 2024 Oscars.
Akshay Kumar’s Mission Raniganj may not have created a splash at the box office but the film has won hearts with good reaction from the audience and favourable reviews as well. Now, the makers of the film are hoping to add another feather to their hat by aiming for the ultimate award in world cinema – the Oscars.
The makers of the film have now decided to independently submit the film to the Oscars Academy. Tis would mean that while the film will not be eligible for the Best Foreign Film award, it will be eligible to compete in every other major category, quite like RRR last year. It remains to be seen the categories in which Mission Raniganj will be competing at the Oscars.
Any country can send non-English films to the Oscars in two ways. One is as the country’s official entry selected by a body assigned by the Academy. In India, this is done by an independent body called the Film Federation of India. The second is as an independent entry, which requires fulfilling ertain theatrical release conditions in the US. Last year, Gujarati film Chhello Show was sent as India’s official entry by the FFI, while SS Rajamouli’s Telugu blockbuster RRR entered the race as an independent entry.
The 96th Academy Awards, popularly called the Oscars, will be held in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024. The nominations will be announced on January 23. Malayalam film 2018 has been selected as India's officia entry for the awards this year.
Produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh, and Ajay Kapoor, Mission Raniganj is directed by Tinu Suresh Desai. It is a true story of a rescue from a coal mine that took place in the 80s when mining officer Jaswant Singh Gill utilised his experitse and bravery to safely evacuate 62 miners from a flooded coal mine in West Begal. While the film began slowly, it has shown increase in ticket sales for the National Cinema Day. The Pooja Entertainment production has sold over 3 lakh tickets for the day as per Sacnilk due to the reduced ticket prices of Rs 99. As a result, several shows of the film are now going houseful, a promising sign.