Director Tha Se Gnanavel's critically-acclaimed Tamil courtroom drama Jai Bhim and Priyadarshan's Malayalam war film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham which were shortlisted for the Best Picture Category, failed to make it to the list of nominations for the 94th Academy Awards that were announced on Tuesday. Both Jai Bhim and Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea), were on the list of 276 movies eligible for this year's Academy Awards.
Ten nominees were announced in the Best Picture category, which was the last of the categories to be announced. The films that have been nominated under this category 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. The Oscar ceremony is scheduled to be held on Sunday, March 27, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will be televised on the American network ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
Ahead of the announcement of Oscar nomination on Tuesday, Hollywood critics’ discussion on Jai Bhim making it to the Oscar race, garnered the attention of fans. When New York Times film critic Kyle Buchana posed which nomination would provoke the biggest reaction, Jacqueline Coley, Awards Editor at aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes mentioned: “#JaiBhim for Best Picture. Trust me on this one.” The Hollywood Reporter columnist Scott Feinberg reacted to the thread, “It is definitely on the Academy Screening Room!” In response, Jacqueline had further commented, “The entire continent would lose it. Trust.” Many members from the Kollywood film fraternity including directors Venkat Prabhu and Seenu Ramaswamy posted tweets hoping for Jai Bhim to secure a nomination.
Helmed by filmmaker TJ Gnanavel, Jai Bhim stars Suriya, Prakash Raj and Rajisha Vijayan, and is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Based on true incidents, Jai Bhim explores how caste hierarchy forms the basis of custodial discrimination in many cases.
Meanwhile, Mohanlal’s period drama Marakkar starred an ensemble cast of actors including Suniel Shetty, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Pranav Mohanlal, Ashok Selvan, Prabhu, Manju Warrier, Keerthy Suresh, Mukesh, Siddique and Nedumudi Venu among others.
#JaiBhim for Best Picture. Trust me on this one.
— Jacqueline (@THATJacqueline) February 8, 2022