MUMBAI: National Award winning actress Priyanka Chopra, whose latest film “Barfi!” will be India’s official entry at the Oscars, is overwhelmed by the news and says the film was a labour of love and it was amazing to be a part of it.

“Yay! Congratulations Team Barfi! This is such amazing news. This film was a labour of love for all of us and to see it receive such amazing success is so gratifying. This has been the toughest character of my life and to see everyone loving Jhilmil is such a dream come true. I am thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful team who made this happen,” Priyanka said in an statement.

Currently in Los Angeles to complete work on her international music album, Priyanka plays an autistic girl named Jhilmil opposite Ranbir Kapoor in the Anurag Basu-directed “Barfi”, which was released Sep 14.

Film Federation of India (FFI) sends some critically acclaimed and highly appreciated films from the country to the jury of the Academy Awards.

While many films including “Paan Singh Tomar”, “Kahaani” among others were shortlisted by the jury members but “Barfi!” has been selected to represent India in the Best Foreign Language Film category to compete with the entries from the other foreign countries.

So far, only three Bollywood films – Mehboob Khan’s “Mother India” (1957), Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay” (1988) and Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Lagaan” (2001) – have made it to the nomination stage.