The Film Federation of India on Monday was widely criticised soon after they announced their pick 'Laapataa Ladies' as India's official entry to the Oscars. The jury in a now-viral document cited that Indian women as a 'strange mix of submission and dominance' as they went on to describe why they chose this film.
Not just the document, FFI was also slammed for neglecting other films like 'All We Imagine As Light' which barely managed to reach the shortlist even after winning prestigious Cannes Grand Prix this year. The news of the Oscar entry ended up dividing the internet as they thought there were better films than 'Laapataa Ladies' made in India over the last year.
FFI Citation Receives Flak For No Women Representation, 'Offensive' Definition Of Indian Women
A person shared the list of 13 names from the FFI jury responsible for selecting the Oscar entry, noting that there was no woman included. This omission led to an outrage among netizens, especially due to the following description of Indian women as a "mix of submission and dominance" in the first line of the citation.
The citation further read, "Well-defined, powerful characters in one world a Laapata 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 (sic)."
Some social media users questioned th nature of the writing in the document saying, "Probably ChatGpt wrote that Jury's citation for Laapata Ladies".
The announcement also received praise from several social media users who pointed out that many films that was budgeted over 100 cr was topped by Kiran Rao's low budget film featuring fresh faces and no big Bollywood stars which are otherwise considered as criteria for a 'hit' film.
Laapataa Ladies Vs All We Imagine As Light
Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' was not known to majority of the Indian population until it received that Cannes Grand Prix earlier this year and even during its win netizens criticised the Indian audience and film authorities for rarely recognising independent films without validation from the West.
The film enthusiasts on social media called the moment 'tragic' and 'absurd' as they thought Kapadia's film made more sense as oscar entry than Rao's film.
Someone wrote in a post on X, "I loved Laapataa Ladies and believe it’s a supremely well-made film. But sending it to the Oscars as India’s official entry is like handing a batter a Player-of-the-Match Award when you have proof a bowler - Cannes Grand Prix-winner All We Imagine As Light - won you the game."
'All We Imagine As Light' was shortlisted by France as their official entry to Oscars too before India named it in their list and a similar discourse had begun on social media. Even after the Cannes win, Kapadia's film did not secure a distribution deal in India until a week before it was shortlisted by FFI for the oscar entry.
The film was released in Kerala on Saturday, followed by a nationwide release in India by actor-producer Rana Daggubati's Spirit Media.
'Laapataa Ladies' featured the stories of two brides in rural India and how destiny intertwines their lives, it was released in March this year and it did not do as well at the box office until streaming service Netflix picked it and released on their site and the film was loved by everyone on the internet.
