It was selected from a pool of 22 contenders, including 12 Hindi films, six Tamil films, and four Malayalam films.
Published Sep 23, 2024 | 1:59 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 23, 2024 | 2:17 PM
Kiran Rao's 'Laapataa Ladies' is India's official entry for Oscars 2025. (X)
The Film Federation of India has officially announced Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies (2024) as India’s entry for the 2025 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
Film Federation Chairman Jahnu Barua shared the news on Monday, 23 September. This marks a significant milestone for Kiran Rao and her team. Laapataa Ladies was selected from a pool of 22 contenders, including 12 Hindi films, six Tamil films, and four Malayalam films.
The selection of Laapataa Ladies came after a rigorous process led by a 13-member jury headed by renowned Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua. It was picked from a total of 29 films, including some high-profile titles like Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal and the Malayalam National Award-winning Aattam (2o23).
Other notable entries in the race were the Telugu films Kalki 2898 AD and Hanu-Man, as well as Hindi films like Swatantrya Veer Savarkar and Article 370.
Despite stiff competition, Laapataa Ladies impressed the jury with its unique narrative and engaging performances, securing its place as India’s official entry for the Oscars 2025.
Film Federation of India statement. (X)
The Film Federation of India’s statement noted that Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures the diversity of Indian women perfectly through a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way.
“It shows you that women can happily desire to be homemakers as well as rebel and be entrepreneurially inclined… it’s a film that can engage, entertain and make sense not just to women in India but universally as well,” the note read.
Laapataa Ladies was screened in the Supreme Court of India a few months ago. It won the Best Film Critics’ Choice Award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2024. The film will be released in Japan on 4 October.
Laapataa Ladies was co-produced by Aamir Khan, Jyoti Deshpande, and Rao herself. It features a fresh ensemble cast, including Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastav, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan.
The Bollywood film is a satirical take on patriarchy, focusing on the lives of two newlywed brides who get mixed up during a train journey. Set in 2001, the movie highlights the societal norms that govern women’s lives and the often-overlooked issue of identity and agency in patriarchal setups.
“Director Kiran Rao and her writers have touched upon heavy topics like the importance of education, self-reliance, and the unnecessary practices and diktats women are subjected to. But at no point does the film feel heavy-handed, this is because of Kiran Rao’s treatment apart from the sharp writing,” read our review.
Before the selection of Laapataa Ladies as India’s official entry for Oscars 2025, Kiran Rao told PTI that her dream would be fulfilled if the movie made it to the Oscars. “But it’s a process, and I’m hoping it will be considered. I’m sure the best film will be selected.”
Kiran Rao also revealed that the inspiration for the film came from a screenwriting competition Aamir Khan had judged. “Aamir came home and told me a one-liner about two girls on a train who get swapped, and I was hooked,” she shared.
In an interview with South First, the director-producer revealed that the entire film was shot in real locations in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Though the makers initially thought of releasing Lapataa Ladies in multiple languages, they decided to release it only in Hindi owing to budgetary constraints.
“The cultural interest of the original language in which it has been made plays a significant role. Contextually, the film can always be remade in another language. But we want to test the film in the original language. The OTT release will certainly have dubbed versions,” Kiran Rao added.
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(Edited by Y Krishna Jyothi)
