Guneet Monga boards India’s Oscar entry ‘Jallikattu’ as executive producer

Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, the Malayalam feature follows a tribe of men coming together to stop a bull that has run amok in their village.

Mumbai: Filmmaker Guneet Monga says she is honoured to come on board “Jallikattu”, India’s official entry in the International Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards, as an executive producer.

Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, the Malayalam feature follows a tribe of men coming together to stop a bull that has run amok in their village.

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Monga, known for backing films like “Gangs of Wasseypur” series, “Masaan” and “The Lunchbox”, took to social media to share the news, saying she was thrilled to join the team ahead of its journey.

“It’s an absolute honour to join team ‘Jallikattu’ on its Oscar journey. ‘Jallikattu’ blew my mind, it’s a high octane masterpiece! Lijo, you’re phenomenal. Let’s do this,” the producer tweeted.

It’s an absolute honour to join team Jallikattu on its Oscar journey.

Jallikattu blew my mind, it’s a high octane masterpiece!!

Lijo @mrinvicible you’re phenomenal

Let’s do this ✨ #Jallikattu @glutking #Thomas

Thank you @namanrs @Noblebrother100 https://t.co/ZyM8SPyq6Z

— Guneet Monga (@guneetm) December 12, 2020

Last year, “Period. End of Sentence”, the 2018 short film on menstruation co-produced by Monga, won the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category.

“Jallikattu”, which derives its name from the popular-yet-controversial bull-taming event in south India, is based on a short story by Hareesh.

The film features actors Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabumon Abdusamad, and Santhy Balachandran.

“Jallikattu” had its premiere in September 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival and received widespread critical acclaim.

The movie was particularly praised for Pellissery’s spectacular directing effort, ably supported by Girish Gangadharan’s cinematography and Renganaath Ravee’s wild sound design work.

Pellissery also won the best director trophy at the 50th International Film Festival of India last year for “Jallikattu”.