Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies has been selected by the Film Federation of India (FFI) as India’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film category to next year’s Oscars. This decision was announced by the FFI jury on September 23, 2024.

However, the jury’s selection has come in for mixed reactions from Indian filmgoers. Many have been critical of the decision and term the selection unfair. They believe the obvious choice should have been All We Imagine As Light, a 2024 film directed by Payal Kapadia which, they say, should have had a definitive edge over Laapataa Ladies for an Oscar entry. The jury chairman has explained that Laapataa Ladies had been selected over other films for its “Indian-ness”.

Laapataa Ladies was selected by a 13-member jury, headed by filmmaker Jahnu Barua. Other contenders for the Oscar entry were All We Imagine As Light, Animal, Srikanth, Sam Bahadur, Kalki 2898 AD, Aattam, Article 370, Maharaja, Kottukkali, among others.  

Director Rao, in the meanwhile, expressed delight at the news and said she was grateful to the selection committee for this honour. “It is indeed a great privilege to be selected among such amazing Indian films this year – who are equally worthy contenders for this honour”, she wrote in a social media post.

Aamir Khan, under whose production banner the film was produced, said he was “proud of Kiran and her entire team” and expressed hope that the film is received well at the Academy Awards.

This is Rao’s second directorial venture, the first being Dhobi Ghat (2011). The plot of Laapataa Ladies revolves around a young village man whose new bride gets swapped with another’s on the train. Based on the prize-winning screenplay Two Brides by Biplab Goswami, the film is a light-hearted satire on patriarchy. It has comedy, emotions and drama and went down very well with the audience when it hit the theatres in March this year.

Source: Media Reports