Chennai, 23 Sept

Kiran Rao's ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has been picked as India's official entry for Oscars 2025, the Film Federation of India announced here on Monday.

The Hindi film, a light-hearted satire on patriarchy, was chosen from a list of 29 films, including Bollywood hit ‘Animal’, Malayalam National Award winner ‘Aattam’ and Cannes winner ‘All We Imagine As Light’.

The 13-member select committee headed by Assamese director Jahnu Barua 'unanimously" decided on Laapataa Ladies, produced by Aamir Khan and Rao, for reckoning in the best international film category at the Academy Awards.

Besides Laapataa Ladies, Hindi film ‘Srikanth’, Tamil movies ‘Vaazhai’ and ‘Thangalaan’ and Malayalam film ‘Ullozhukku were among the top five in the 29-title list. Laapataa Ladies, which was released in March to universal praise from the critics, is a heartwarming and empowering take on two brides in rural India in 2001 who accidently get swapped during a train journey. The film is backed by Rao’s Kindling Productions, Aamir Khan Productions, and Jio Studios.

Rao said she is "deeply honored and delighted" that her film will represent India at the 97th Academy Awards. "Cinema has always been a powerful medium to connect hearts, transcend boundaries, and ignite meaningful conversations. I hope that this film will resonate with audiences across the world, just as it has in India.

"I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the selection committee and to everyone who believed in this film. It is indeed a great privilege to be selected from among such amazing Indian films this year - who are equally worthy contenders for this honor," the director said in a statement.

The filmmaker, who returned to direct Laapataa Ladies after a hiatus of almost 13 years, said she and her team look forward to taking the journey ahead "with great enthusiasm". Rao made her debut with ‘Dhobi Ghat’, the 2010 drama centered around people from different walks of life in Mumbai.

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.

Kishan credited Rao, Khan, his co-stars and writers for the feat. In the film, the actor-BJP MP played the cop investigating the case of the two brides who accidentally got swapped on a train. "I never thought the film would go to the Oscars. The entire world would witness Indian society, especially rural India which comprises 80 per cent of the country's population, from the Oscars stage.

"They will see how India's daughters are moving forward. The film gives a beautiful message about how these daughters don't give up on their dreams, be it self-reliance or organic farming," Kishan told PTI in Gorakhpur as he dedicated the film to the daughters of India.

It's a twin treat in a year for Kadam, currently on her way to Paris for a film premiere. In May, she attended the 2024 Cannes Film Festival where her film ‘All We Imagine As Light’, directed by Payal Kapadia, became the first movie from India to win the Grand Prix award.

Kadam, who essayed the fan favourite Manju Maai, a fierce teaseller with a soft corner for one of the two heroines in Laapataa Ladies, said she had predicted that the film would be selected as India's official entry for the Academy Awards. "This happiness doesn't belong only to me, it belongs to Indian cinema. I hoped that something like this would happen and I'm feeling great now that it actually happened. I had sent a message to Kiran in Marathi, saying that 'We will go to the Oscars'. And today, when the news broke, I called her up and said, 'I told you so!'" she told PTI over phone.

Tamil film ‘Maharaja’, Telugu titles ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and ‘Hanu-Man’, as well as the Hindi films ‘Swatantraya Veer Savarkar’ and ‘Article 370’ were also part of the list.

No Indian entry has been nominated for best international feature film at the Oscars since the Khan-starrer ‘Lagaan’ in 2002. Only two other films have previously made it to the final five and they are the Nargis-starrer ‘Mother India’ and Mira Nair's ‘Salaam Bombay!’ Malayalam superhit ‘2018: Everyone is a Hero’ was sent last year.