Tovino Thomas's '2018', India's official entry for the Academy Awards, out of the Oscar race

Tovino Thomas

India is out of the race from the best International feature film category after its official selection, the Malayalam film '2018' failed to make it to the shortlist. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming 96th Oscars ceremony on Thursday.

India's official entry '2018'directed by Jude Anthany Joseph was a hit in the domestic market but failed to impress the Oscar committee. The film has an ensemble cast bringing together the best of Malayalam cinema to narrate the story of the horrific 2018 Kerala floods. Only 15 films have advanced to the next round of the international feature film category.

2018, the biggest budget movie from Mollywood released on May 5 and is directed by Jude Anthany Joseph and has a very prominent star cast with Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali, Kunchako Boban, Lal, Narain, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Aparna Balamurali, Tanvi and others in lead roles. Director Jude succeeded much in recreating the Kerala floods and giving those wow moments to the audience. The art department deserves a big appreciation and salute to the production team who stood with the director to make this happen. The movie was produced by Venu Kunnappilly, C K PadmaKumar and Anto Joseph under the banner of Kavya Film Company and PK Prime Productions. This was the second back-to-back blockbuster from Kavya Film Company after 'Malikappuram'.

Check out the list of films that made it to the shortlist of International Feature films category at the 96th Oscars:

Armenia, "Amerikatsi"
Bhutan, "The Monk and the Gun"
Denmark, "The Promised Land"
Finland, "Fallen Leaves"
France, "The Taste of Things"
Germany, "The Teachers' Lounge"
Iceland, "Godland"
Italy, "Io Capitano"
Japan, "Perfect Days"
Mexico, "Totem"
Morocco, "The Mother of All Lies"
Spain, "Society of the Snow"
Tunisia, "Four Daughters"
Ukraine, "20 Days in Mariupol"
United Kingdom, "The Zone of Interest"

In the previous year, Pan Nalin's Gujarati films 'Chhello Show' had made it to the shortlist but failed to bag a nomination. The last film that was officially nominated from India and made it to the top five was Ashutosh Gowariker's 'Lagaan' in 2001.