Actor Adil Hussain has urged the Sarbananda Sonowal government in Assam to release ₹5 crore for promoting India’s official contender for the Oscar — Village Rockstars — directed by Rima Das in the Best Foreign Language Film category. In a tweet, Mr. Hussain said he hoped the Assam government would immediately release ₹5 crore for the promotion of the film “since all other countries have already started their campaign in the U.S.”
His appeal followed a statement by Film Federation of India’s selection committee chairman S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu that there was an acute lack of funds to carry out the required promotional activities.
“The governments have so much money to promote themselves putting posters all across! After selecting Village Rockstars , jury says there’s acute lack of funds to promote the film at Oscars,” Mr. Hussain had tweeted earlier.
An Assamese film made by the self-taught Ms. Das, Village Rockstars premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival before bagging the Swarna Kamal for Best Feature Film at the 65th National Film Awards this year.
