P.S. Vinothraj’s Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles) has been chosen as India’s entry for Oscars 2022 in the best international feature film category. The decision was announced in Calcutta yesterday (23rd October) by Shaji N. Karun who chaired the jury for deciding the Oscar entry. Other members on the jury were Ananya Chatterjee, Indradip Dasgupta, Arghyakamal Mitra, Ruma Sengupta, Sumit Basu, Pampally, AVM K. Shanmugham, P. Sukumar, Naganna, G. Bhageeradha, Vipul Mehta, Ravindra Jadhav, Umamaheshwar Rao and Navaniat Singh.
Shaji Karun pointed out that the international feature film was now also eligible to compete for the best film at the Oscars. He also said, Koozhangal had been made on a “smaller budget” but was a “cinematic achievement”. He added that there was no dissent note in choosing the Indian entry.