The Film Federation of India announced in Chennai on Monday that Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has been selected as India’s official entry for the 2025 Oscars. The news has erupted with mixed reactions on X (formerly Twitter). Trust me, there’s a lot to be said not just about the selection of the film but also about what the Film Federation of India said in its jury awards for ‘Laapataa Ladies’. Also Read | Director Kiran Rao hopes ‘Laapataa Ladies’ becomes India’s official Oscars entry: ‘My dream comes true’
“Laapataa Ladies” beat “All We Imagine as Light” to become India’s official Oscar entry.
The Hindi film, a light-hearted satire of patriarchy, was selected from 29 other films, including Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal,’ Malayalam National Award-winning ‘Aaathtam,’ and Cannes Film Festival winner ‘The Light Is All We Have,’ which many had hoped would be India’s official Oscar nominee.
Here are some reactions from India to the Oscar nominees
“Indian Oscar jury, stupid as usual, chose ‘Laapataa Ladies’ for the Oscar over Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’. This was to be expected given her history with the government. What on earth,” commented user X.
“I love Laapataa Ladies and think it’s a very well made film, but sending it to represent India at the Oscars is like giving the best player award to the batsman in Cannes Grand Prix-winning All We Imagine As Light when there’s evidence the bowler won the match,” another user tweeted.
“Incompetent organization”
Another said, “‘All we imagine as light’ is the Grand Prix winner at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. Last year’s winner was the Oscar (interest zone) for Best International Feature Film. What an incompetent group of people who are ignorant about movies and want to show their prejudices,” while another said, “LOL (laughing out loud), this year someone from India won the Cannes Grand Prix with ‘All we imagine as light’ and India chose this. FFI never disappoints.”
Another X user said: “It looks like the Film Federation of India has saved face for the government by avoiding submitting the Indian film ‘All We Imagine as Light’ to the Oscars. The Grand Prix at Cannes was an awkward moment for the government as they had to congratulate director Payal Kapadia during a legal battle.”
“They could have at least spelled juror correctly.”
Some X users were amused by the Film Federation of India’s official announcement in its jury citation for Laapataa Ladies, India’s official entry for the 2025 Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category, which stated that “Indian women are a strange mix of submissive and dominant.”
In response, one X user wrote, “‘Indian women are a strange mix of submissive and dominant’ is a weird opening for a jury summons,” while another commented, “They could have at least spelled jury correctly,” while another X user commented, “That summons. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…”
More about Laapataa’s women’s selection
A 13-member special committee led by Assamese director Janu Barua has “unanimously” chosen Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao’s “Laapata Ladies” to represent India in the Best International Film category at the Oscars.
Besides “Laapataa Ladies”, Hindi film “Srikanth”, Tamil films “Vaazhai” and “Thangalaan” and Malayalam film “Ullozhukku” rounded out the top five in the list of 29 films.
Kiran Rao’s response
The filmmaker said he is “extremely honoured and delighted” that his film will represent India at the 97th Academy Awards. “Film has always been a powerful medium that connects hearts, transcends boundaries and sparks meaningful conversations. I hope that this film will resonate with audiences around the world as much as it did in India. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the selection committee and everyone who believed in the film. It is truly a great honour to be chosen this year among such incredible Indian films that are equally deserving of this honour,” Kiran said in a statement.