Oscars 2017: Randeep and Aishwarya's film Sarbjit makes an independent entry

Omung Kumar's Sarbjit, starring Randeep Hooda and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, has been selected for the Oscars 2017. The film has been submitted for the 89th Academy Awards as an independent entry for Best Picture.

Sarbjit beat another Indian biopic, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, which was also in the Oscar race for Best Picture, in the race to the prestigious award.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to his Twitter handle to announce the big news. "#Sarbjit submitted for Academy Awards as an independent entry... All the best, Pooja Ent & Films, Super Cassettes Ind, Legend Studios," he said.

On Wednesday, December 21, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had released the list of 336 feature films eligible for the best picture Oscar. Besides Sarbjit and MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, few other films that were part of the list were Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair's Queen of Katwe, Manchester by the Sea, Silence, La La Land, Moonlight, Arrival and Hacksaw Ridge.

Sarbjit is a biographical film of an Indian national Sarabjit Singh (played by Randeep), who was spent 22 years in Pakistan prison for alleged terrorism and spying and was brutally killed in the jail. Aishwarya portrayed the role of Sarabjit's sister, Dalbir Kaur, while Richa Chadda and Darshan Kumar played supporting roles.