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In the history of Indian cinema, the dominance of regional and content-based films is no longer limited to national boundaries, but is ready to give a direct competition to Hollywood and big budget cinema on the global stage. The much-awaited global trailer of the much-talked-about film ‘Gondhal’, selected as India’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film category of the 99th Academy Awards, has been released internationally on Tuesday, 27 October. Made under the skillful direction of film director Santosh Davkhar, this mysterious psychological thriller sends shivers down the spine of the audience from its very first scene. While on one hand there is a hot discussion at the Indian box office about mythological films with a mega budget of Rs 4,000 crore, on the other hand, ‘Gondhal’, which explores the sweet smell of earth, folk tradition and the dark corners of the human mind, has caught the attention of film critics around the world with its trailer.
The grand and mysterious scenes presented in the trailer of the film, the cultural environment, the folk songs resonating to the beat of drums and the mysterious shadows wrapped in darkness point towards a very unsettling world. Right from the beginning of the trailer, the audience realizes that this is no ordinary drama, rather it is a deep psychological journey that teases out the fine line between faith and suppressed human desires. According to international film critics, this global trailer of the film meets all the standards that are considered necessary to impress foreign platforms and the Oscar jury. As soon as the trailer is released, it has started trending on YouTube, X and various social media platforms and cinema lovers are closely analyzing every frame of it.
The film ‘Gondhal’ is going to be released simultaneously in theaters across the world on November 13, 2026. In terms of release, this film is going to set a unique and unprecedented record in the history of Indian cinema. This is the first time that an independent regional film, originally made in the Marathi setting, is being released simultaneously worldwide dubbed in seven major languages – Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and English. Usually, only big budget action and commercial masala films get a multilingual release on such a large scale, but ‘Gondhal”s strong script and Oscar selection have inspired global distributors to take it to every corner of the world.
Under the global distribution network, the film will be released in all major metros and single screens of India as well as multiplexes in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, Dubai (UAE) and African countries. For the convenience of foreign audiences, the film is being presented with local subtitles and high-level dubbing so that no language barrier can weaken its emotional impact. Film experts believe that this international release in seven languages will give not only Marathi cinema but the entire Indian parallel cinema a new commercial footing at the global box office.
The story of the film ‘Gondhal’, set against the deep backdrop of rich cultural and folk tradition of Maharashtra, revolves around a young girl named Suman. Suman is a newly married girl who, under family pressure and social constraints, gets married to a man with whom she can never connect emotionally. Suman is deeply troubled by her monotonous, suffocating and boring married life and wants to get out of this mental prison at any cost. Meanwhile, a traditional folk ritual called ‘Gondhal’ is organized at Suman’s in-laws house to worship the Kuldevi and fulfill the old vow of family peace.
In the folk culture of Maharashtra, ‘Gondhal’ is a very sacred night-long vigil and theatrical ritual in which Gondhali artists dance and sing amidst the echoes of the bravery, stories and sambals of Mother Goddess. The real and horrifying turn of the story comes when during this religious ritual, Suman starts growing close to the main Gondhali artist of that troupe. In this story which takes place in the darkness of a single night, on one hand the atmosphere of spirituality is maintained due to the sacred aarti of Mother Goddess, chanting of mantras and the rhythm of dholak, while on the other hand, the dirty game of human nature starts in closed rooms and behind the scenes.
In the story, such a complex web of greed, lust, deceit, deception, mental manipulation and deep bitterness of relationships is woven that every character is seen struggling with his suppressed desires, fear, guilt and selfishness. The scenes shown in the trailer make the audience’s heart skip a beat, where Suman’s character struggles between her social responsibilities and her personal physical and mental desires. The psychological web of human weaknesses parallel to the sacred thread of devotion that the director has laid leaves the question in the audience’s mind whether at the end of that night one will be blessed by the Goddess or some terrible secret will be exposed.
‘Gondhal’ has emerged as a big hope for India in the journey of Academy Awards. After being selected as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, the film’s Oscar campaigning team has become active in Los Angeles, America. The Indian selection committee chose this film to represent India considering its originality, realistic acting without any artificiality, vibrant background score and excellent cinematography.
According to insiders and international reports, the makers of the film do not want to be limited to just the Best International Feature category. Given the film’s technical grandeur and emotional depth, it is also being promoted for consideration in other prestigious categories such as Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Original Background Score. Recently, there was some debate in the film industry regarding this selection, where some veteran filmmakers had expressed different opinions, but director Santosh Davkhar has made it clear that his film will present the real soul of India, folk culture and international level cinematic craft to the world with full pride and will never let the country bow down.