Rahul Rawail resigns from Oscar selection jury

Mumbai: Filmmaker Rahul Rawail, who was a part of the selection jury that chose "Court" as India's official entry for Oscars today, has resigned from his post citing differences with chairperson Amol Palekar.

Rawail, however, clarified that he was not against the selection of the Marathi film and the decision to choose "Court" was unanimous but was upset with the way Palekar behaved.

"Just want to clarify that I am proud of Court and fully support its selection. I resigned from the Oscar jury because of Mr Palekar's obnoxious behaviour," Rawail tweeted just after the announcement about the selection of "Court".

Palekar could not be reached for a comment but Supran Sen, secretary general of Film Federation of India (FFI), which selects the Oscar entry, called Rawail's claims "ridiculous".

"'Court' was a unanimous decision. You can manipulate one or two people not all the members of the jury. I think they had a personal problem and it does not have to do with 'Court'. His statement is ridiculous," Sen told PTI when asked whether Rawail was angry at Palekar for pushing the Marathi film.

Rawail is known for directing films like "Love Story", "Betaab", "Anjaam" and "Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya".