List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

India has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (formerly Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film)[lower-alpha 1] since 1957, a year after the incorporation of the category.[3] The award is given annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[4] The "Best Foreign Language Film" category was not created until 1956; however, between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented a non-competitive Honorary Award for the best foreign language films released in the United States.[5]

Seven films starring Kamal Haasan were submitted, including a directorial effort.

Satyajit Ray has represented India three times in this competition, the most by any director.

Five of Aamir Khan's films, four as an actor and three as a producer, were submitted, including a directorial effort. Lagaan, which he produced and starred in, received a nomination.

The Film Federation of India (FFI) appoints a committee to choose one film among those released that year to be submitted as India's official entry to the Academy for a nomination for "Best Foreign Language Film" the following year.[6] The chosen films, along with their English subtitles, are sent to the Academy, where they are screened for the jury.[7] The 1957 Hindi film Mother India was India's first submission. The film made it to the final shortlist and was nominated alongside four other films in the category.[8] It came close to winning the Academy Award but lost to Nights of Cabiria by a single vote.[9] Since 1984, India has not submitted a film on only one occasion; in 2003, the FFI controversially chose not make an entry as they felt no film would be in a position to compete with films from other nations.[10][11] As of 2019, only three Indian films—Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Lagaan (2001)—have been nominated for the award.[12] In 2011, the jury of the 58th National Film Awards made a recommendation that the Best Film winners at the annual National Film Awards be chosen as the official entry.[6][13] However, except for the 88th Academy Awards,[lower-alpha 2] none of the Best Film (National Film Awards) winning film was submitted by India over the years.