Hyderabad: The Tamil film Visaranai will represent India in the best foreign language category for the next Academy Awards. Announcing the official choice of the 13-member jury in Hyderabad on Thursday, chairman of the jury Ketan Mehta said, “It's a unanimous decision by all members.”
Based on the novel Lock Up by M. Chandrakumar, Visaranai has been produced by actor Dhanush and directed by Vetrimaaran. Dinesh, Anandhi and Aadukalam Murugadoss are the lead actors in the film based on police brutality and corruption. The film has also won three national awards - the best feature film in Tamil, best supporting actor for Samuthirakani, and for best editing. It has also won the Amnesty Int-ernational Italia Award. Besides being critically acclaimed, Visaranai, which was released on February 5, 2016, was also a commercial hit.
Visaranai was chosen for the Oscars over big films like Sultan, Bajirao Mastani, Fan, Udta Punjab and Kapoor and Sons. The jury members watched 29 films in all, including 16 Bollywood films. Visaranai is the ninth Tamil movie to represent India at Oscars.
