High Hopes for Oscar Honours for Indian Cinema as "Tanvi The Great",  "Kantara: Chapter 1" also compete for 98th Academy Awards Best Picture !! By Sr. Journalist Chaitanya Padukone

The Oscars has officially announced that 317 feature films are eligible for consideration at the 98th Academy Awards. This includes 201 titles that qualify for the Best Picture race. The four Indian films that feature in the list are Rishabh Shetty's Kantara: Chapter 1, Anupam Kher's Tanvi The Great, M Sasikumar Tourist Family and the animated epic Mahavatar Narasimha. Radhika Apte's Sister Midnight have also made it to the list.

Nominations voting begins TODAY  on Monday, January 12, 2026, and concludes on Friday, January 16, 2026. Final Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026. Twenty-four categories will be awarded at the 98th Oscars.  Each category has five nominees, except for Best Picture, which has 10. Best Picture nominations are determined by eligible members from all 19 Academy branches. All rounds of Oscars voting are conducted by secret online ballot, tabulated by the independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The prestigious 98th Academy Oscars Awards ceremony is scheduled to be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles ( USA) and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has unveiled the official list of 201 feature films eligible for the prestigious Best Picture category at the upcoming Academy Awards. These titles have successfully met all additional eligibility benchmarks beyond the standard submission requirements, as confirmed by the Academy.

As the 98th Academy Awards inch closer, Indian cinema appears to be standing at the threshold of yet another historic moment on the global stage. Following Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound earning a coveted spot among the Top 15 shortlisted films in the International Feature Film category, the momentum continues to build. Adding to this prestigious list Anupam Kher’s Tanvi The Great &  Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 andhave adopted a strategic path toward international acclaim, securing their place among the 201 films eligible for consideration at the 98th Oscars.

In November 2025, AMPAS had earlier announced 317 eligible films across the Best Documentary, Animated Feature, and International Feature Film categories. With anticipation running high, the official Oscar nominations are set to be revealed on January 22, a date keenly awaited by the global film fraternity.

Directed by actor-filmmaker Anupam Kher, Tanvi The Great features Shubhangi in the titular role of Tanvi Raina, a young girl deeply inspired by her late father’s service in the Indian Army. The film sensitively weaves together themes of autism, resilience, and patriotism, as Tanvi dreams of honouring and carrying forward her father’s legacy.. Anupam Kher has expressed his "ecstatic joy" on his film being selected in the prestigious Oscars competitive race." It makes me feel very proud, we have really worked very hard on Tanvi The Great," reacted witty Anupam Kher, who also joked that " if our movie gets nominated to the next Academy levels I will possibly grow hair too."

Meanwhile, Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1, produced by Hombale Films, journeys deep into the ancient roots of Daiva worship in Tulunadu, tracing its origins back to the fourth-century Kadamba dynasty. Rishab Shetty essays the role of Berme, the fierce guardian of the Kantara forest and its indigenous people, in a narrative that blends myth