Vidya Balan's Natkhat qualifies for Oscar nominations; says 'I'm over the moon'

Vidya Balan's short film Natkhat was the opening film at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in October. Recently, she revealed that her film has won at a major film festival. Winning this has made the film eligible to be nominated at the Oscars. Here's everything you need to know about about the Kahaani star's award-winning short film. 

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Vidya Balan's short film eligible for Oscar nomination

Natkhat short film, starring Vidya Balan and also co-produced by her, has won a top prize at India's short film festival 2020 making it eligible to get nominated at the Oscars. She announced the same on her Instagram where she said that she is over the moon. The film is amongst the 5 finalists at ShortsTV’s Best of India Short Film Festival 2020 along with other films like Trapped, Soundproof, Safar, and Shameless. Natkhat also won a huge cash price of $2,500, which is approximately Rs 1,85,497.

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More about Natkhat 

The Natkhat cast includes Vidya playing Sonu's mom, Sanika Patel playing the lead role of Sonu, Raj Arjun as Sonu's father, Atul Tiwari and Nivedita Baunthiyal. It is directed by Shaan Vyas and written by Shaan and Annukampa Harsh. Along with Vidya, the film is also co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala. The plot revolves around Sonu and his mother, wherein she educates her son about gender equality and calls out toxic misogyny. The film received critical acclaim and Vidya was praised for bringing simplicity and nuance to her role of Sonu's mom. The majority of Natkhat cast did not have much prior experience in acting. It was shot in Harda, Madhya Pradesh, and indoor scenes in Mumbai. 

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Vidya Balan on the work front 

Vidya Balan was last seen in Shakuntala Devi where she portrayed the lead role of Mathematician Shakuntala Devi. The film also featured Sanya Malhotra, Jisshu Sengupta, Spandan Chaturvedi, Amit Sadh, and Prakash Belawadi in pivotal roles. The film streamed on Amazon Prime video during the COVID-19 pandemic and it was critically acclaimed.

She will next be seen in Sherni directed by Amit Masurkar which is currently being filmed. The film will revolve around the conflict between man and animal and Vidya will portray the role of a forest officer. It will be extensively shot in the forests of Madhya Pradesh. 

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