Gondhal is a 2025 Indian Marathi-language thriller film written and directed by Santosh Davakhar. The film stars Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Kishor Kadam, Suresh Vishwakarma, Nishad Bhoir, Anuj Prabhu, Vitthal Kale in main roles. It is reportedly the first Indian film to feature a continuous 25-minute-long take. The music was composed by "Isaignani" Ilaiyaraaja, marking his third Marathi film soundtrack after Hello Jai Hind! (2011) and Touring Talkies (2013).
Gondhal was nominated for the Golden Peacock Award at the 56th International Film Festival of India and Santosh Davakhar won Best Director Award in Silver Peacock category. It was also selected as the Indian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
Plot Bhivaba, a respected and financially well-off Gondhali, sets out to perform a Gondhal (Traditional devotional ritual) at the house of a Patil family. He is accompanied by his grandson, Vishnu, and his fellow performers. As they walk through the dark village night with a lantern, they discuss the disappearance of Bhivaba’s son, which is being investigated by the police. The disappearance is connected to Sarjerao, a member of another branch of the Patil family, and his father, Abasaheb, the elder Patil. The father and son use fear and violence to maintain their control over the village and display their power.
At the Patil house where Bhivaba is going to perform, Suman has recently married Ananda. Sarjerao is deeply in love with Suman, while Suman seems attracted to him because she dreams of becoming a Patlinbai. Although she is married to Ananda, she continues to respond to Sarjerao’s feelings. During the Gondhal ceremony, Sahebrao, the man Suman truly loves, arrives in the village disguised as a Murali to perform in the same Gondhal. His presence creates a complicated relationship between Suman, Sarjerao, and Ananda. Suman wishes to leave Ananda and begin a new life with Sahebrao. To achieve this, Suman takes advantage of Sarjerao’s love and jealousy and convinces him to murder Ananda.
She plans for Sarjerao to be blamed for the crime and sent to prison, after which she intends to escape with Sahebrao. As the Gondhal continues through the night, the hidden relationships and the murder plan lead to a series of violent events. As planned by Suman, Sahebrao halts a Gondhal ritual and directs Ananda to a river nearby telling him that it is the deity's calling to perform a new ritual on the bank of the river. Everyone present there believes Sahebrao should perform the ritual as it is a Gondhali suggesting the new ritual. In the meantime, Sarjerao kills his Aabasaheb in the backyard for always being against his and Suman's union and wears his father's turban implying that he has taken over the reign as the next Patil. However, Bhivaba attacks him from behind mistaking him to be the Patil and ends up killing Sarjerao. Unable to find Sarjerao to send at the river bank to kill Ananda, Suman now passes on the responsibility to Sahebrao to go and kill him for the sake of their love.
A hesitant Sahebrao goes to the river bank and calls out for him, where he is attacked by Ananda, leading to a gruesome fight in the water. It is later that Ananda had learnt about the conspiracy against him and it was him who attacked Sahebrao which ended in Sahebrao's death. The film ends with Ananda surviving the night, while Sahebrao and Sarjerao are dead. The Gondhal ceremony concludes at dawn, contrasting with the violence, betrayal, and power struggles that have taken place during the night.
Cast Kishor Kadam as Bhivaba Ishita Deshmukh as Suman Yogesh Sohoni as Ananda "Aandya" Nishad Bhoir as Sarjerao Anuj Prabhu as Sahebrao (Murali) Suresh Vishwakarma as Patil, Sarjerao's father Maadhavi Juvekar as Ananda's mother Aishwarya Shinde as Ananda's sister Kailash Waghmare as Mhorkya Poonam Patil as Suman's mother Prashant Deshpande as Ananda's father Sharad Jadhav as Suman's father Vitthal Kale as Mohan Pravin Dalimbkar as Vilas Dhruv Thoke as Vishnu, Bhivaba's grandson Prabhakar Mathapati as Ananda's brother-in-law
Marketing The teaser was released on 10 October 2025 with Kantara: Chapter 1 in selected cinemas.
Release The film was theatrically released in Maharashtra, India on 14 November 2025.
Reception
Critics response Santosh Bhingarde of Sakal awarded 4.5 stars out of 5 stars, describing it as an outstanding portrayal of our folk culture. Anupama Gunde of Pudhari awarded 3 stars out of 5 stars, and wrote "The film symbolically blends darkness, the breaking dawn, and the emergence of truth into bright light." Elizabrth Kerr of Screen Daily wrote, "Though the narrative has its share of loose ends (one of which is disturbing for who it involves), Gondhal is immersive and enlightening, but also gleefully pulpy, and a breath of fresh air for Marathi cinema."
Accolades At the 56th International Film Festival of India (2025), Gondhal won the Silver Peacock for Best Director. The film also received the FIPRESCI Award at the 17th Bengaluru International Film Festival (2026). At the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) (2026), it won both Best Director and Best Cinematographer, and later secured the Best Director award at the 22nd Third Eye Asian International Film Festival (2026). Film was nominated for Oscar in 2026.
Awards and nominations AwardCategoryRecipient(s) and nominee(s)ResultFilmfare Awards MarathiBest ActressIshita DeshmukhBest ScreenplaySantosh DavakharBest CinematographerAmlendu ChoudharyBest Sound DesignJayesh DhakanBestBest Background ScoreIlaiyaraajaBest Supporting Actor (Male)Anuj PrabhuBest Supporting Actor (Male)Kishore KadamBest Actress (Critics)Ishita DeshmukhBest DirectorSantosh DavakharBest StorySantosh DavakharBest EditingAshish Mhatre
Soundtrack The soundtrack was composed by "Isaignani" Ilaiyaraaja, ""Chandana"" song lyrics written by Ajay Gogavale and ""Malhari"" song written by Santosh Davakhar.
See also List of submissions to the 99th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links