Gujarati film 'The Good Road' is India's entry for Oscar

"It was a unanimous decision to select 'The Good Road', which is a movie produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC)," renowned filmmaker Goutam Ghose, who headed the selection committee appointed by the Film Federation of India (FFI), told IANS.

A still from 'The Good Road'

The story of three individuals on a highway, "The Good Road", widely shot in Kutch district in Gujarat, had clinched the National Award for Best Feature Film (Gujarati) earlier this year. It features actors like Sonali Kulkarni and Ajay Gehi.

The movie left behind 21 other contenders, including strong films like "The Lunchbox", "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", "English Vinglish", "Vishwaroopam", Malayalam film "Celluloid" and Bengali film "Shabdo", he said.

"'The Lunchbox' was a very strong contender. I loved the film," said Ghose.

A committee of 16 people was appointed to make the selection.

Irrfan-starrer "The Lunchbox", which released Friday, was said to be a frontrunner for the Oscar, but the movie couldn't make it.

So far in the history of Indian cinema, only three Bollywood films, including Mehboob Khan's "Mother India" (1957), Mira Nair's "Salaam Bombay" (1988) and Ashutosh Gowariker's "Lagaan" (2001), have made it to the nomination stage of the Oscar.

Last year, Anurag Basu's "Barfi!", featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz was sent as a contender. But it failed to make it to the top five.

The Oscar ceremony will take place in March 2014.