Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in lead roles, has been declared as India's official entry for the 92nd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
The movie, which released on February 14, 2019, has been directed by Zoya Akhtar.
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on February 9, 2020 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, US.
Gully Boy also features Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Amruta Subhash, Vijay Varma and Vijay Raaz in important roles.
Set in Mumbai, the movie follows the dreams of rapper Murad, played by Ranveer Singh. Alia Bhatt plays Murad’s girlfriend.
Kalki Koechlin, to this end, tweeted to express her excitement on the news. She quoted a news report and said, "Woweeeeeeeee!!!!!!! That is just the best Saturday evening news!"
Gully Boy has been written by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti and produced by her company Tiger Baby and Excel Entertainment.
Farhan Akhtar, one of the stakeholders at Excel Entertainment, also took to Twitter to share the news.
"#GullyBoy has been selected as India’s official entry to the 92nd Oscar Awards. #apnatimeaayega Thank you to the film federation and congratulations #Zoya @kagtireema @ritesh_sid @RanveerOfficial @aliaa08 @SiddhantChturvD @kalkikanmani & cast, crew and hip hop crew," he posted.
As many as 28 movies were reported to be contending against one another in the selection process -- conducted under the supervision of actor-turned-filmmaker Aparna Sen.
Widely appreciated Andhadhun, Badhai Ho, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Article 15 among others were all considered for the coveted entry.
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