Did Suriya pay to get ‘Jai Bhim' featured on Oscar's Youtube page?

A clip from 'Jai Bhim' was shown in the Scene At The Academy category.

New Delhi: It was a proud moment for Tamil film 'Jai Bhim', when a few days back it made its way to the Oscars Youtube page under the Scene At The Academy category. The film that star superstar Suriya and is also backed by his production house, 2D Entertainment, took to Twitter, to announce the news. "An honour of the highest order! #JaiBhim has been featured in the official YouTube channel of @TheAcademy #SceneAtTheAcademy," read the tweet.

An honour of the highest order!#JaiBhim has been featured in the official YouTube channel of @TheAcademy #SceneAtTheAcademy

https://t.co/CUEu8u0Occ#Oscars @Suriya_offl #Jyotika @tjgnan @rajsekarpandian @PrimeVideoIN

— 2D Entertainment (@2D_ENTPVTLTD) January 18, 2022

However, now a Twitter account has dismissed it to be a ‘proud moment’ as it claimed that 'Jai Bhim's' addition in the Scene At The Academy category was bought by paying a certain fee.

Attaching photos of the official Oscars page which clearly indicates that anyone who pays USD 5000 (Rs 3, 70, 000 approx) as a submission fee can qualify to feature a scene under this category, the Twitter user wrote, “If you pay Rs 3,72,000, the video will be published Oscar’s YouTube Channel. This is how Jai Bhim video is streamed in Oscar Channel. So actor Suriya started following cheap marketing tricks as like DMKians?”

If you pay Rs 3,72,000, the video will be published Oscar’s YouTube Channel. This is how Jai Bhim video is streamed in Oscar Channel. So actor Suriya started following cheap marketing tricks as like DMKians? pic.twitter.com/nFBA9YfG2D — G Pradeep (@pradeep_gee) January 23, 2022

According to the guidelines, if a filmmaker wishes to submit their movie’s clipping to the channel for a spotlight, then they would have to pay a submission fee and feature the filmmaker discussing the scene. It also mentioned that the clipping can be 15 minutes or a maximum of 20 minutes long. 'Jai Bhim' apparently submitted its introductory scene under this category. 

However, 'Jai Bhim' on its own has made it to the long-form list of films eligible for the 94th Oscars. Currently 276 films are eligible for the Academy Awards this year including Mohanlal's 'Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham'.

‘Jai Bhim’ is based on a true story and  highlights police atrocities on the Adivasi community. Suriya plays the role of a lawyer who fought for the rights of a tribal woman, who has been wronged by the legal system. The film is available on Amazon Prime Videos for viewing.