Amol Palekar appointed as Chairman of India's Oscar jury

Veteran actor and director Amol Palekar has been appointed as the Chairman of India’s Oscar jury by Mumbai based Film Federation of India (FFI).
He will head the 17-member jury panel which will select the Indian films official entry in the best foreign film category of the 88th Academy Awards which will be held in Los Angeles in February 2016.

About Amol Palekar

• Palekar is best known for portraying the middle-class Indian in a string of films such as Rajnigandha, Gol Maal, Chitchor, Ek Chhoti Si Baat and Gharaunda in the 1970s. After 1986, he had stopped his acting career in in order to concentrate on filmmaking.
• His performances in regional language films in Marathi, Malyalam, Bengali and Kannada had also fetched him critical acclaim.
• He also has directed National Award-winning films like Quest (2006) and Dhyaas Parva (2001).
• Awards: He received one Filmfare award and six State awards as Best Actor.

Note: Salaam Bombay and Mother India are the only other two Indian films to have made it to the top five in the best foreign film category of Academy Awards.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2015