Composer Ilaiyaraaja told Gondhal director Santosh Davakhar to explain the film’s music-making process to the Academy after its team requested a cue sheet, Davakhar said in an interview with SCREEN.
A request for music documentation
Davakhar said the Academy team had asked for a cue sheet while Gondhal was being submitted for consideration in a music category. A cue sheet records the music used in a film, including details such as composition titles, composers and where the music appears.
According to Davakhar, Ilaiyaraaja questioned how he could provide a document for music that he had not composed by following a cue sheet. The director said he told the composer the paperwork was important and that they needed to complete the form. Ilaiyaraaja’s response, as Davakhar recounted it, was: “You figure it out.”
Davakhar said the Academy team later asked for the film to be submitted so its committee could consider how to proceed without the requested document. The account describes an exchange about the submission process; it does not establish the film’s eligibility or selection in any Oscar music category.
Davakhar on the film’s score
Gondhal is a Marathi dark thriller centred on a night of Gondhal, a traditional folk-art performance and religious ritual. Davakhar said he approached Ilaiyaraaja because he wanted an authentic Marathi folklore sound and a score shaped by the composer’s experience with traditional instruments.
The director also described Ilaiyaraaja’s approach as minimalistic, saying he wanted that quality for the film’s music. Gondhal was originally released in 2025, and the source reports that it was re-released in several Indian languages on November 13, 2026.
