Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 27 (IANS): Jude Anthany Joseph, the director of Malayalam film '2018' which has been selected as India’s official entry to the upcoming Oscar film awards, termed the nomination "as good as winning the Oscar".

"This is as good as winning the Oscars. I just do not know how happy I am as this is news that shocked me. This is God’s blessing," said Joseph.

"The response to the film after its release was in itself a big recognition and now comes this news. Each and every person who played a part in the film had worked really hard as such were the conditions. Am thankful to God and am feeling really happy," added Joseph.

'2018' also known as '2018: Everyone is a Hero' is an epic survival drama film that tells the tale of the 2018 floods that ravaged Kerala and was the worst ever floods in a century.

In the floods, a total of 483 people lost their lives and the film has portrayed the tragedy quite well. It took Joseph six months to shoot the film in different parts of the state besides Tirunelveli and Hyderabad.

The film stars Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Gibin Gopinath amongst others. Released in May this year, the film turned out to be one of the biggest grossers.