February 18, 2026 12:03 am (IST)
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Girish Malik's 'Jal' in race for Oscars
Mumbai, Dec 14 (IBNS): After winning the National Award for visual effects, Girish Malik's 'Jal' has been shortlisted in the list of feature films which are in contention for nominations in the Best Film Category of Oscars.
Starring Purab H Kohli, Kirti Kulhari, Tannishtha Chatterjee the film has been shortlisted in the list of 114 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2014 which are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category in Oscars.
The background score for the film is given by Sonu Nigam and Bikram Ghosh. The film marked the official debut of the duo as music directors.
Commenting on the moment, director Girish Malik said, “It’s a moment of great pride! Everyone dreams about his film being shortlisted for Oscars and we are honored to make it in our very first movie. It is a clear vindication of the hard work and dedicated effort of the entire team.”
“We always, thought the film will be noticed by people because of the content and the way we have showcased it. We worked on a very tight budget and it was a huge challenge. We had to make it look realistic, so it’s great that we are being rewarded for our work,” added Girish.
Apart from being in the race for the Oscar nomination, Girish Malik’s ‘Jal’ has also been inducted to the Oscar Library. Jal was also the only Indian film to have made it to the prestigious in-competition segment of the Busan International Film Festival and was also more recently the official selection in the Indian Panorama section at IFFI Goa.
Produced by Oneworld Films, in association with Clapstem Productions and NFDC, and distributed by DAR Film Distributors, Jal is the story of a young water diviner, Bakka who is gifted with a special ability to find water in the desert. With the backdrop of water, the film tells a complex and fascinating story of love, relationships, enmity, deceit and circumstances that bring about the dark side of human character.
It is a high-octane, action- drama with a shocking climax. Shot on an epic scale, the film has managed to capture ‘Rann of Kutch’ like never before prompting even ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ to applaud Jal as “a breathtakingly photographed tragedy of Shakespearean proportions".
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