Vignesh Shivan hopes Koozhangal to become the first Indian film to join this elite list after Lagaan

Koozhangal aka Pebbles, directed by debutant filmmaker PS Vinothraj, has been making the right noise in several film festivals from quite some time. Earlier this year, the movie went on to bag the prestigious Tiger Award at the 50th Rotterdam Film Festival 2021, which was a first-of-its-kind feat for a Tamil film.

The project was in the news recently when it was chosen as India's official entry to the prestigious 94th Academy Awards, which is slated to happen on March 27 in Los Angeles. Director Vignesh Shivan, who has produced the movie along with Nayanthara under their production house, Rowdy Pictures, took to his social media account to say that he's hoping to see the film making it to the shortlist of fifteen finalists.

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan (streaming on Netflix) was the last Indian movie which made it to the elite list of Best International Feature Film category. Vignesh believes that the film deserves to be in the list for Vinoth's hard work and craft. It is expected that the nominations will be announced on February 8.  

He tweeted, "Hope #Pebbles enters The shortlist of fifteen finalists for the Best International Feature Film! After #Lagaan.. after almost 20 years an Indian film making it to the list will be a remarkable achievement! @PsVinothraj deserves it too! (sic)."    

Vinoth had earlier said that it was an incident which took place in his own family which inspired him to make Koozhangal. The movie was shot in and around Arittapatti, near Melur in Madurai, for around 30 days. Some of the mountains where the team shot the film, are actually, several thousands of years old. 

The director had also said that he was thankful to the likes of Yuvan Shankar Raja (music director of the film) and Vignesh as he believes the project received wide attention after they became part of the film. ​