Suriya's highly acclaimed Tamil courtroom drama 'Jai Bhim' and Priyadarshan's National Award-winning Malayalam war-film 'Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea' failed to make it to the list of nominations for the 94th Academy Awards that were announced on Tuesday, February 8. Both the films had been included in the list of 276 films eligible for consideration at the Oscars 2022.
There were genuine expectations that 'Jai Bhim' would manage to make the cut after one of its scenes was featured on the Oscars YouTube channel under the section 'Scene At The Academy' in January. The film's director TJ Gnanavel talked about the opening scene in the video, whose official description reads as, "Jai Bhim weaves in real case studies helmed by Activist-Lawyer Chandru, who brought justice to indigenous tribes in Tamilnadu through his relentless efforts. Writer-director TJ Gnanavel reveals how the story narrative was formed and executed."
It is worth mentioning that India's official entry for the Oscars 2022 was the Tamil drama 'Koozhangal' (Pebbles). Screened at various international film festivals earning accolades for the nation, the P. S. Vinothraj directorial hasn't been officially released yet in India. But there's good news for the country as well since the Indian documentary ‘Writing With Fire’ has been nominated under the Best Documentary Feature category.
The nominations for the 94th Academy Awards were announced by Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan on Tuesday evening (local time). Oscars 2022, the most awaited night in Hollywood, will be held on Sunday, March 27, at the Dolby Theatre.
The films nominated for 'Best Picture' are 'Belfast', 'Coda', 'Don't Look Up', 'Drive My Car', 'Dune', 'King Richard', 'Licorice Pizza', 'Nightmare Alley', 'The Power of the Dog' and 'West Side Story'. In the International Feature Film category, one out of these five films will lift the Oscar statuette - 'Drive My Car' (Japan), 'Flee' (Denmark), 'The Hand of God' (Italy), 'Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom' (Bhutan) and 'The Worst Person in the World' (Norway).
