Akshay Kumar’s Mission Raniganj may not have garnered big numbers at the box office but fans have appreciated it. The Akshay Kumar-starrer is based on a real-life incident where an engineer rescued 65 workers when a West Bengal coal minery got flooded. As per reports, the makers (Pooja Entertainment) have independently submitted the film for the Oscars.
Directed by Tinu Suresh Desai, the movie also stars Parineeti Chopra, Varun Badola, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rajesh Sharma, and Virendra Saxena among others. Apart from the official selection, every country can send non-English films to the Academy for Oscars, subject to final selection.
As readers would know, the Film Federation of India announced Malayalam-language survival drama 2018, starring Tovino Thomas and directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, as the country’s official entry for the Oscars. The movie features an ensemble cast and is based on the floods that struck Kerala in 2018.
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In the recent past, films such as Gully Boy, Last Film Show, Pebbles, and Jallikattu have been selected as India’s official Oscars entries. Last year was particularly successful one for Indian cinema at the Oscars, with the Telugu-language epic RRR winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song, despite not being chosen to compete for the Best International Film award. Only three Indian movies in history have scored nominations in the category — Mother India, Salaam Bombay, and Lagaan. Two Indian documentary features – Writing with Fire and All that Breathes – have also scored nominations in the last two years, with The Elephant Whisperers winning in the Best Documentary Short category last year.
Released last Friday, Mission Raniganj had a disastrous opening of merely Rs 2.8 crore and has so far netted Rs 18.25 crore at the box office. In an interview with Times Now Navbharat, Akshay Kumar said that although the film has been a commercial non-performer, it ranks as one of his best. “It is not a commercial film. It has not earned as much as it should have earned. But, I have come here knowing that the film has not done well, to own the film–and I have done some 150 films by now–and say that this is one of my best films,” he said.
When the journalist said actors don’t usually own up when their films don’t do well, Akshay added, “Main ulta hu (I am the opposite). Film has not worked, but I want to own up and say it is my best film.”
The 96th Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024. The final list of nominations will be announced on January 23.
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Akshay Kumar’s Mission Raniganj independently submitted for Oscars: report – The Indian Express
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