Rajesh Mapuskar: Priyanka Chopra disappointed that Ventilator didn't make it as Oscar entry

Marathi film Ventilator director Rajesh Mapuskar has revealed that producer Priyanka Chopra has been left disappointed after the film lost out to Newton in the Oscars entry race. Newton is India's official entry to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Only one film per country is submitted to the category.

Newton, which was the unanimous choice, has been sent by the Film Federation of India to the Oscars.

“I told her not to worry, assuring her that only the best film would make it. We were a bit disappointed when we learnt about the verdict the next day,” Mapuskar told DNA newspaper.

The director also suggested that had his film been nominated then Priyanka would have left no stone unturned to promote it on an international scale.

“I guess Priyanka must be even more disappointed because she was always ambitious about the film. Had it been selected, she would have ensured that it was the most talked about film in the run to the Oscars, especially since she is already an established name there. Ventilator was always the favourite baby of their banner,” Mapuskar said.

Ventilator was the first Marathi film produced by Priyanka and her mother Dr Madhu Chopra under the Purple Pebble Pictures banner. The film was received well and it had bagged three National awards in April this year, including Best Director award for Mapuskar

DNA quoted a source saying that Dangal and Mukti Bhawan were among the other films in the Oscars race.