Oscars shortlists for 10 categories out; India's entry '2018' doesn't make it

Tovino Thomas-starrer survival drama Malayalam film '2018 - Everyone is a Hero', which was India's official entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category, is out of the Oscars race.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday announced the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming 96th Oscars ceremony, where Margot Robbie-starrer 'Barbie' received maximum nods.

Directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, '2018 - Everyone is a Hero' follows the true story of unprecedented rains and flood that hit Kerala in 2018. It was chosen as it addresses a global issue and depicts the harrowing realities of what a natural calamity is for common people.

The film also stars Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain and Lal.

It became the fourth Malayalam film after the 1997 film 'Guru', thriller drama 'Adaminte Makan Abu' in 2011 and the much talked about 2019 film 'Jallikattu', which were picked as India's official entry for the Oscars. However, none of these films received nominations.

Overall, Greta Gerwig's meta-comedy 'Barbie' had the most mentions with five including sound, original song for its three submissions from Billie Eilish ('What I Was Made For?'), Dua Lipa ('Dance the Night') and Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt ('I'm Just Ken'), and original score, from the latter duo, reports Variety.

The big miss for 'Barbie' was in makeup and hairstyling, which was the category that yielded the most surprises. In addition to 'Barbie', 'The Color Purple', and 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' all failed to make the shortlist. Instead, the branch selected A24's eccentric 'Beau is Afraid' and Universal Pictures' horror summer film 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter'.

In the music categories are compositions from Daniel Pemberton ('Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'), Ludwig Goransson ('Oppenheimer') and the late Robbie Robertson ('Killers of the Flower Moon'). We also have a fair amount of veterans including Thomas Newman ('Elemental') and John Williams ('Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny').

As per Variety, other movies with strong showings include Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' with four mentions overall including original song and J.A. Bayona's 'Society of the Snow', which could emulate the path of last year's surprise juggernaut 'All Quiet on the Western Front', which went on to win four Oscars.

The international feature race didn't see many jaw-dropping snubs aside from Romania's 'Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World' and Chile's 'The Settlers' not being named. All the usual suspects are on board including the U.K.'s 'The Zone of Interest' and Spain's 'Society of the Snow'.

The Oscar nomination period will run from January 11 to January 16, with the official nominees named on January 23.

(With inputs from IANS)