Filmmaker Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies is India's official entry for Oscars 2025. The Film Federation of India (FFI) on Monday, September 23, confirmed the news. Upon its release, the film received positive reviews from critics and audiences and became a cult classic.
Laapataa Ladies is picked from a list of 29 films, including Ranbir Kapoor's Animal, National Award winning Malayalam film Aattam, and Cannes winner All We Imagine As Light by Assamese director Jahnu Barua-led selection committee.
Rao's film has been selected as India's official entry in the Best Foreign Film Category at the 97th Academy Awards.
The Film Federation of India, in an official statement said, "Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world a LAAPATAA LADIES (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way. It shows you that women can happily desire to be home makers as well as rebel and be entrepreneurially inclined. A story that can simultaneously be seen as one that needs change, and one that can bring about change. Lapataa Ladies (Hindi) is a film that can engage, entertain and make sense not just to women in India but universally as well''.
Interestingly, Laapataa Ladies Oscar nomination came just a few days after Kiran Rao revealed that it is her lifelong dream to have her film in the Oscars.
She told PTI, "My dream would be fulfilled if it was, if it would go (to Oscars). But it's a process, and I'm hoping it'll (Laapataa Ladies) be considered. I'm sure the best film will go, whoever they choose in the scheme of things''.
Laapataa Ladies, a light-hearted satire on patriarchy, released in March this year. It starred Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan among others in key roles.
In 2023, Laapataa Ladies was also screened at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Produced jointly by Kiran Rao, her ex-husband and actor Aamir Khan and Jyoti Deshpande, it is set against the backdrop of rural India and is a story of two young brides who get exchanged on a train.
Laapataa Ladies received lots of love in theatres and also after its release on Netflix. It found a whole new audience resonating with its message, sparking conversations and social media trends all over the world.
