New Delhi: “Laapataa Ladies”, India’s official entry in the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards, is out of the Oscars race.
The Hindi film, directed by Kiran Rao, is not part of the shortlist of 15 features that will be vying for a spot in the final five, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced on Wednesday morning.
However, British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s “Santosh”, starring Indian actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, representing the UK, has made it to list that also includes France’s “Emilia Pérez”, “I’m Still Here” (Brazil), “Universal Language” (Canada), “Waves” (Czech Republic), “The Girl with the Needle” (Denmark), and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from Germany.
The other contenders in the category are “Touch” (Iceland), “Kneecap” (Ireland), “Vermiglio” (Italy), “Flow” (Latvia), “Armand” (Norway), “From Ground Zero” (Palestine), “Dahomey” (Senegal), and “How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies” (Thailand).
The final Oscar nominations will be announced on January 17.
According to the Academy, 85 countries or regions had submitted films that were eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 97th Academy Awards.
“Santosh”, which marks Suri’s feature directorial debut, revolves around a newly widowed housewife (Goswami) who inherits her late husband’s job as a police constable and becomes embroiled in the investigation of a young girl’s murder.
India’s official entry “Laapataa Ladies” (“Lost Ladies” in English) is a gently subversive feminist drama which is set in rural India in the early 2000s. Sneha Desai wrote the screenplay and dialogues of “Laapataa Ladies”, based on a story by Biplab Goswami. Divyanidhi Sharma penned additional dialogues.
It follows two brides who get swapped on the day of their wedding during a train ride. It stars Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta as the brides Phool and Jaya, respectively, with Sparsh Shrivastav playing the hapless groom in search of his wife.
Chhaya Kadam, Ravi Kishan, and Geeta Agrawal Sharma also round out its cast.
“Laapataa Ladies”, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), released in theatres on March 1 to great reviews. It is backed by Rao’s Kindling Productions, Aamir Khan Productions, and Jyoti Deshpande of Jio Studios.
In September, the Film Federation of India (FFI) unanimously chose “Laapataa Ladies” as India’s official entry to the Oscars from a list of 29 films, including Bollywood hit “Animal”, Malayalam National Award winner “Aattam” and Cannes winner “All We Imagine As Light”.
At the time, the 13-member all-male jury of FFI courted controversy on social media for their citation about the film. Many on social media said the brief went against the message the film was trying to convey.
The citation by the federation read: “Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world, a Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way.”
Besides “Santosh”, “Anuja” is another film with an Indian connect that has advanced to the next stage of the Oscars. It is one of the 15 films to be selected in the Live Action Short category.
The New Delhi-set short film follows a gifted nine-year-old Anuja, who must make a choice between education and factory work alongside her sister – a decision that will shape both their futures. It stars Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag.
“Anuja” is directed by Adam J Graves and Suchitra Mattai, and has two-time Oscar winning producer Guneet Monga on board as executive producer and Hollywood star-writer Mindy Kaling as producer.
On Wednesday morning, the Academy also announced shortlists in eight other categories: Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, and Sound and Visual Effects.
“Lagaan”, set in the pre-independence era, was the last Indian film to enter the top five nominations in the best international feature film category (formerly called best foreign film) at Oscars 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!”
Last year, “Naatu Naatu”, the peppy, foot-tapping chartbuster from SS Rajamouli’s Telugu period action film “RRR”, won the Academy Award in the best original song category along with “The Elephant Whisperers”, directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment, winning the Oscar in the Best Documentary Short Film category.
Late night host and comedian Conan O’Brien will host the Academy Awards on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles.
