Geethu Mohandas' Liar's Dice, India's Official Entry to the Oscars, Ups the Game

Geetu Mohandas’s directorial debut, Liar’s Dice,  India’s official entry for the best foreign language feature film for the Academy Awards, 2015, is now upping the ante for the Oscar race with several new developments.

The film starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa won two National Film Awards including, Best Actress for Thapa and Best Cinematography for Rajeev Ravi at the 61st National Film Awards.

Datuk Vinod Shekhar, an influential Malaysian Indian tycoon who heads the Malaysian based conglomerate Petra Group and its unit PetraTara Studio, has joined forces with Alan McAlex and Ajai G. Rai at Jar Pictures to come onboard as a Producer on “Liar’s Dice".  Petra Studio has an established track record of several successful film co-productions ventures such as Tarzan the epic adventures.

Datuk Eric Chong has also joined as an Executive producer from Petra Group and Saraswathi Vani Balgam who was working at Rhythm & Hues Studio is also on board as an Executives producer.

The Oscar campaign for Liar’s Dice is being managed by MJ Peckos and Steve Raphael, from Required Viewing Inc, the US based Awards consultants. Required Viewing has a tremendous track record at the Oscars, with two of their recent films, Omar and War Witch officially getting nominated in the best foreign feature film category in 2014 and 2013 respectively.

Excited about the collaboration, Geetu Mohandas says, “We are honoured to partner with PetraTara studios. We believe this collaboration is what we need at this point since another country is getting involved in our partnership. Also with such a huge studios presence will uplift our chances at the Oscar campaign.”

Datuk Vinod Sekhar, says 'It a privilege to be working and associated with so much immense talent in one project. Geetu Mohandas is a master film maker and the world has finally a chance to truly see her genius. India and Malaysa, together can achieve great things together, and Liar's Dice is a clear example of this. '

“Liar’s Dice” follows a young woman (Geetanjali Thapa) who takes a long road trip from the Himalayan foothills to Delhi with her infant daughter and a pet goat to find her missing husband. An army deserter, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, helps her in her quest. The road drama stretching from a small village, Chitkul on the Indo-Tibet border to the industrial city Delhi is set against the alarming backdrop of the socio-political conditions of India where millions of labourers go missing and are considered just a number in government records.