With two songs from blockbuster Malayalam movie Pulimurugan featuring in the list of 70 songs eligible for an Oscar nomination, Mohanlal, who played the protagonist, said he is “excited and happy” to hear the news.
Taking to Facebook to share his happiness, Mohanlal, who is currently shooting for director Shrikumar Menon's Odiyan, said:
"Excited and happy that the songs ‘Kaadaniyum Kalchilambe’ and ‘Manathe Marikurumbe’ from the movie Pulimurugan has been selected along with 70 other songs to be considered for nominations in the original song category for the Oscars."
Pulimurugan is the only Indian film to score a place in the '70 songs eligible for Oscar nomination' in the 'Original Songs' category for the 90th Academy Awards.
Mohanlal also congratulated the team behind Pulimurugan, especially the music composer, Gopi Sunder, for this achievement.
On his part, an overwhelmed Gopi Sunder had initially said that the achievement was all thanks to god's grace.
In an interview to the Times of India, the music composer said that he was honoured to make it to the list. The final nominations will be declared on January 23 2018, but Gopi Sunder said that making it to the longlist is an achievement in itself.
Saying that he was still in a state of disbelief, Gopi added, "I am someone who won a National Award despite never being considered for a State Award. So, making it to the Oscars list is definitely a big moment for me. It doesn't matter if I win or not, this itself is a big honour."
Later taking to Facebook, he said the support he received from people were priceless.
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