Chaitanya Tamhane's critically acclaimed Marathi film 'Court' has been selected for India's official entry to the Best Foreign Language category for the 2016 Academy Awards. The film has been selected from a list of 30 films by the Film Federation of India jury headed by Amol Palekar. Tamhane’s film beat Rajkumar Hirani's 'PK', Neeraj Ghyaywan's Cannes winner 'Masaan', Omung Kumar's 'Mary Kom', Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Haider', M Manikandan's 'Kaaka Muttai' and SS Rajamouli's 'Bahubali' in the race. An ecstatic Tamhane said “At every juncture of the film’s journey, we have felt that it has given us more than we could ever imagine. Once again, this has come as a genuine surprise to both Vivek and me.”
'Court' narrates the story of the trial of an ageing folk singer accused of performing an inflammatory song that may have incited a sewage worker to commit suicide in a manhole. The film has had a busy year, travelling to 19 national and international festivals and picking up 16 awards. It is the third Marathi film after Sandeep Sawant's 'Shwaas' in 2004, and Paresh Mokashi's 'Harishchandrachi Factory' made on the life of Dadasaheb Phalke in 2009 to be selected as India's entry to the Academy Awards.
