Laapataa Ladies‘ selection as India’s official entry for the 97th Oscars to be held on March 2, 2025, received mixed reactions. While some hailed the decision, others questioned the jury for chosing it despite two other strong contenders – Aattam and All We Imagine As Light.
Film Federation of India (FFI) President Ravi Kottakara explained the reason behind the final verdict, detailing why Laapataa Ladies stood out against its competitors. He told ETimes, “In the jury, everyone has to decide the film. The jury liked Laapataa Ladies, and felt that All We Imagine As Light is like a foreign film and not like Indian cinema.”
Laapataa Ladies above Aattam, All We Imagine As Light
Elaborating on All We Imagine As Light, Kottakara added, “The problem is, we had six or seven great films. It was a big fight among all these selections. It took three to four hours. They were all films on women. There was a big argument even over ‘Ullozhukku’. They liked that film. The jury was totally divided saying, these films are good. They also argued over ‘Srikanth’.”
About Laapataa Ladies
Starring Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastav in the lead roles alongside Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam and Geeta Aggarwal Sharma, Laapataa Ladies has been directed by Kiran Rao.
It was chosen from a list of 29 movies submitted for selection, other ones including Malayalam National Award winner Aattam, and Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
ALSO READ: All We Imagine As Light: Payal Kapadia Film To Represent France At Oscars 2025
Why Laapataa Ladies?
Kottakara defended the jury’s decision and said, “When they saw Laapataa Ladies, it represented the plight of the Indian woman.” According to him, the plot around swapping of brides due to their ghoonghat in a train “is something that happens only in India.”
“The jury’s call is the most important call. What happens is, that whenever we send a film, there is always one group opposing it and one group supporting it,” he stated.
The last Indian film to get nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars was Aamir Khan’s Lagaan in 2002. Prior to this, only two films – Mother India and Salaam Bombay made it to the final list.
