The Film Federation of India (FFI) has shortlisted Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies as India’s entry for Oscars in 2025. Roping the competition with 29 films, including Prabhas’ Kalki 2898 AD, starring Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, Kartik Aaryan’s Chandu Champion, Rajkummar Rao’s Srikanth, and Vicky Kaushal’s Sam Bahadur, the film was selected unanimously by a committee comprising 13 members, helmed by Assamese director Jahnu Barua. The other contenders were the National Award winner Aatam and Cannes winner *All We Imagine As Light.
Laapataa Ladies is a satirical drama about patriarchy written by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao where two newlywed brides are mistakenly exchanged. The crowds and critics appreciated the non-trivial narrative and the intertwining plots of the film. India Today described the film as being “a terrific watch” by allow it to note that could be off-putting for some by its duration.
This is also Kiran Rao’s second directorial venture after her Hindi films Dhobi Ghat released in 2010. Pratibha Ranta, Nitanshi Goel, Sparsh Shrivastav, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan in the lead cast, was focussed in the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and released in the theatres in March 2024.
Since 2002, the last Indian film to receive the Oscars’ nomination in the Best Foreign Film category was Lagaan. Other nominees are Mother India of 1957 and Salaam Bombay of 1988. Last year’s entry was 2018: Everyone is a Hero, a Malayalam movie with Tovino Thomas.
