Eklavya: The Royal Guard, India's official entry for the Oscars, has failed to make it to the shortlist in the best foreign film category.
The period film, about an old palace guard who carries a secret, was not among the nine movies listed on the official Oscar web site on
Tuesday.
The shortlisted films are The Counterfeiters (Austria), The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (Brazil), Days of Darkness (Canada), Beaufort (Israel), The Unknown Woman(Italy), Mongol (Kazakhstan), Katyn (Poland), 12 (Russia) and The Trap (Serbia).
The selected entries, chosen from 63 eligible films, advance to the next round of voting and the five nominees in the Foreign Language Film category will be announced on January 22, the web site said.
Eklavya had run into a legal tangle in September after the director of Dharm, a film that came a close second during selection, took India's Oscar selection committee to court claiming some of its members were known to producer and director Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
The 80th Academy Awards will be presented at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on February 24.