Film Federation of India today revealed that it has chosen ‘Laapataa Ladies’ as India’s official entry for Oscar 2025. In order to qualify to apply for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards, the film must have released between 1st November, 2023 and no later than 30th September, 2024. Also, the film must be publicly exhibited at least for 7 consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theatre.
‘Laapataa Ladies’ is a great film, its simple yet deep way of portraying the women of rural Indian society is charming, empowering, raw and real. It very well captures the two sides of a woman where she can be as vulnerable and still manage to survive and on the other hand fight for her dreams no matter what comes her way.
While ‘Laapataa Ladies’ is a great pick, we cannot ignore the fact there are multiple other highly deserving candidates that missed the opportunity. A bunch of Malayalam film like ‘Bramayugam’, ‘Aadujeevitham’, ‘Ullozhukku’, and ‘Kishkindha Kaandam’ had immense potential and could have been very strong contenders for winning the Oscar for India if they had been selected for it.
Also, we cannot forget Payal Kapadia’s international co-production ‘All We Imagine As Light’ which won the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival earlier. The film released in theatres in India (Kerala region) a couple of days ago and just fulfilled the criteria for qualifying for Oscar entry from India but unfortunately it could not make it and is definitely a big missed opportunity.
But then the fact that ’Laapataa Ladies’ Is backed by a big Indian production banner like Aamir Khan Productions must also be taken into consideration. Such a backing is important as the funds help with the promotions and lobbying and generate the much needed buzz to increase the chances of the film getting shortlisted and finally grab the coveted award.
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