Aamir Khan's 'Peepli Live', India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film this year, is out of the race with the movie failing to make it to the final nine.
Produced by Aamir Khan, the film was selected from 27 movies including 'Raajneeti' and 'Udaan' to represent India at the Oscars. Aamir had won an Oscar nomination for his 2001 film 'Lagaan'. His 'Taare Zameen Par (2007) also returned empty handed from the Oscars.
Directed by debutante Anusha Rizvi, 'Peepli Live' is a satire on media's trivialisation of farmers' suicide and stars a host of theatre actors.
The nine films were selected out of 66 films that had originally qualified in the category. The list will be winnowed down to the five nominees by the Academy voters for January 25 Oscar nominations.
The films that are still in the Oscars race are -- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Mexican film 'Biutiful', starring Javier Bardem, Algeria's 'Hors la Loi' (Outside the Law) by director Rachid Bouchareb, Canada's 'Incendies' by Denis Villeneuve, Denmark's 'In a Better World by Susanne Bier, Greece's 'Dogtooth' by Yorgos Lanthimos, Japan's 'Confessions' by Tetsuya Nakashima, South Africa 'Life, above All' by Oliver Schmitz, Spain 'Tambien la Lluvia' by Iciar Bollain and Sweden's 'Simple Simon' by Andreas Ohman.
The 83rd Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood.