‘Laapataa Ladies’, a gentle, satirical take on gender dynamics and patriarchy in rural India, centred around the story of two brides who get swapped during a train journey in 2001.The film was chosen from a list of 29 contenders, including critically acclaimed films such as the Malayalam National Award winner ‘Aattam’, and ‘All We Imagine As Light’, which gained global recognition after creating history with its big win at the Cannes Film Festival.
Shortly after the announcement was made, many took to social media to cheer for the Hindi film, while others slammed the 13-member selection committee. Film enthusiasts criticised the committee saying, “The Zone of Interest won the Grand Prix at Cannes ’23 and took home the Oscar for Best International Film. All We Imagine As Light had a strong chance with the Oscar jury, especially after its Cannes success!”
In an exclusive chat with ETimes, Film Federation of India (FFI) President, Ravi Kottakara explained how the film selection was done. He said, “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.”
Kottakara elaborated on the jury’s perspective, saying, “When they saw Laapataa Ladies, it represented the plight of the Indian woman. In the film, the women had to wear the goonghat, and because of that, all the misunderstandings occur. They felt that this is something that happens only in India.”
Defending the Jury’s choice, he added, “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 also revealed that two other Tamil films and even a Malayalam movie were in the running to become the country’s official entry for the Oscar race. “The problem is, they were bigger to fight for me. There are two great Tamil films called ‘Vaazhai’ and ‘Thangalaan’, which have not reached, even though they came to the final. Even, ‘All We Imagine As Light’, the jury was speaking about the film and asking ‘how can we send it?’ or ‘What can we do regarding the film?’. But then, again, the jury felt that ‘Laapataa Ladies’ ‘represents India’.”
“‘All We Imagine As Light’ is also a great film. 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’ and said, ‘It is a fantastic film’. The sentiments shown in that film were fantastic.”
He concluded, “This year, we had nearly seven great films which they had to choose from. What it comes to say is that India is making great films. A lot of countries are doing great content and the selection becomes harder for these people. That is what’s most important.”
Starring Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastav in the lead alongside Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam and Geeta Aggarwal Sharma, the Hindi film had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
No Indian film has been nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars since the Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Lagaan’ in 2002. Only two other films have previously made it to the final five – the Nargis-starrer ‘Mother India’ and Mira Nair’s ‘Salaam Bombay!’
The 97th Oscars will be held on March 2, 2025.
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