Oscar 2021: ‘Jallikattu’ dropped out of the Oscar race, live action short ‘Bittu’ still in fray

Jallikattu has dropped out of the Oscars at the 93rd Academy Awards, but the short film Bittu is still in the fray into the next round.

Jallikattu, a Malayalam-language movie directed by filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery, is not part of the shortlist of 15 features that will be vying for a spot in the final five, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced on Wednesday.

Jallikattu is based on the short story Maoist by S. Hareesh and stars Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabumon Abdusamad, and Santhy Balachandran. The film had its premiere on 6 September, at the Toronto International Film Festival and received widespread critical acclaim.

On the other hand, Karishma Dev Dube’s Bittu, based on a true story, the movie is a short film about a close friendship between two girls, eclipsed by an accident at their school. The movie is part of a 10-film shortlist that also includes Da Yie, Feeling Through, The Human Voice, The Kicksled Choir, The Letter Room, The Present, Two Distant Strangers, The Van, and White Eye.

Bittu is presented by Indian Women Rising (IWR), a cinema collective that was recently formed by filmmakers Ekta Kapoor, Guneet Monga, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana, and Ruchika Kapoor.