MUMBAI: Filmmaker Hansal Mehta and Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej have voiced their criticism of the Film Federation of India (FFI) after Kiran Rao's 'Laapataa Ladies', India's official entry for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, failed to make it to the Oscars shortlist.
Mehta took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his disappointment. He shared a screenshot of the shortlisted films in the Best International Feature category and questioned India's film "selection" process.
"Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable," he wrote.
Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable. pic.twitter.com/hiwmatzDbW
— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) December 17, 2024
Ricky Kej also shared his thoughts on X, calling 'Laapataa Ladies' the "wrong choice" to represent India at the Oscars.
"When are we going to realise... year after year... we are choosing the wrong films? There are so many excellent movies made, and we should be winning the #InternationalFeatureFilm category every year!" he wrote.
"Unfortunately, we live in a 'Mainstream Bollywood' bubble, where we cannot look beyond films that we ourselves find entertaining. Instead, we should just look for good films made by filmmakers who are uncompromising in their art... low budget or big budget... star or no star... just great artistic cinema. Below is the poster of #LaapataaLadies. I am sure most Academy voting members dismissed the film just by looking at these," he added.
So, the @TheAcademy Oscars shortlist is out. #LaapataaLadies is a very well made, entertaining movie (I enjoyed it), but was absolutely the wrong choice to represent India for the best #InternationalFeatureFilm category. As expected, it lost.
— Ricky Kej (@rickykej) December 18, 2024
When are we going to realize.. year… pic.twitter.com/iWGpSXY1KD
In September, the Film Federation of India, led by Jahnu Barua, selected 'Laapataa Ladies' from a list of 29 films in several Indian languages, including Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light and the National Award-winning Aattam.
While 'Laapataa Ladies' is out of the race, Shahana Goswami-starrer 'Santosh', directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, is still in contention as the United Kingdom's official entry. Apart from this, Guneet Monga's live-action short film 'Anuja' has been shortlisted, giving India some hope at the Oscars.
Directed by Kiran Rao and produced under the banners of Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures, and Jio Studios, 'Laapataa Ladies' was released in theatres on March 1, 2024.
It starred Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Ravi Kishan and Chhaya Kadam.
Set against the backdrop of rural India, Laapataa Ladies revolves around the story of two young brides who get exchanged on a train.
The film's team including director Kiran Rao and producer Aamir Khan already kickstarted the campaign for Oscars 2025. The movie was screened in London recently.
On November 12, a new poster for the film was unveiled with the title 'Lost Ladies'. It highlighted a change for international audiences, as the Hindi word Laapataa was translated to its English word, Lost.
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