HYDERABAD: Hindi language black comedy film Newton, which was selected as India’s entry for the Oscars by the jury in Hyderabad on Friday, will become the first film to receive a grant of `1 crore from the Centre.

Oscar entry list

The 14-member jury headed by well-known Telugu film producer-director C V Reddy watched 26 entries in different languages in the last one week to select the Oscar entry. Telugu films, Bahubali 2: The Conclusion directed by S S Rajamouli and Balakrishna-starrer Gautamiputra Satakarni were among the entries. There were 12 films in Hindi, five in Marathi, two each in Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Malayalam and one in Tamil which were in contention for the Oscar nomination.

Comedy film Newton

“Newton” which hit the theatres on Friday – the day the announcement happened to be made – is a political satire. Actor Rajkummar Rao, who plays the lead character in the film, expressed happiness about it being selected for the Oscars. “Very happy to share this news that Newton is India’s official entry to the Oscars this year,” he tweeted. When asked why the jury selected “Newton”, the jury chairman C V Reddy said the film had a good subject that was handled well and also for being high on technical values. “It was an unanimous decision,” he said on the selection of the film. “Newton” is directed by Amit V Masurkar and is produced by Drishyam films.

Film Federation of India chairman C Kalyan was present when it was announced that Newton was selected as India’s entry for the best foreign film category award for the Oscars.The screenings for Oscar selections have been held in the city for the last five years but will shift to Chennai from next year. A new building of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce has got ready there consisting of preview theatres having the latest equipment.

Also read:Bollywood film Newton is India’s official entry to 2018 Oscars