Aamir Khan's Peepli Live, depicting the growing rural-urban divide in India, has been selected as  India's official entry to next year's Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category.

"Peepli Live has been selected as India's official entry for the Oscars out of 27 films," Supran Sen, secretary general of the Film Federation of India, told PTI.

Directed by debutant Anusha Rizvi, the film stars theatre actors and was shot in a small village in Madhya Pradesh.

The film also takes pot shots at the media and the political system in the country.

This is third time lucky for Aamir Khan Production as the actor's previous films Lagaan (2001) and Taare Zameen Par (2007) were also selected to represent India at the Academy awards.

Laagan, which saw Aamir playing a farmer in British Raj, was shortlisted in a category of five but lost to Bosnian war film No Man's Land.