Review Tales

Laapataa Ladies, or the anglicized Lost Ladies, is a Hindi film directed by Kiran Rao and produced by her ex-husband Aamir Khan and JioStudios. The film had its world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival last year and was very well received by North American audiences. It was released theatrically in India on 1st March 2024, where it garnered critical acclaim and audience love, continuing its theatrical run even 50 days after its release, despite also being available digitally on Netflix.

A mid-budget social dramedy with relatively unknown faces generating such a response is itself a testament to the film’s quality. But as good as a film may be, quality alone doesn’t guarantee an Academy Award nomination. It’s more about campaigning than artistic merit.

I still remember how Andrea Riseborough snagged an acting nomination for To Leslie, even though hardly anyone had seen the film, thanks to a campaign by her peers in the industry—many of whom are Academy voters. So, I’m somewhat divided over the Film Federation of India’s (FFI) decision to submit Laapataa Ladies as the entry for Best International Film.

If not Lost Ladies, what else?

This year, we’ve had several films that have played at prestigious festivals and even won coveted awards. The most obvious pick would have been All We Imagine As Light, Payal Kapadia’s debut narrative feature, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes. It’s an Indo-French co-production.

Last year, the Cannes Grand Prix was awarded to The Zone of Interest, which went on to win two Oscars, including Best International Film, and was also nominated for Best Picture. Perhaps we could have had a similar fate if we had submitted this film—or at least earned a nomination. It could still get nominated in other categories alongside major American films, but being the country’s official entry would have definitely given it an edge. Let’s hope that Janus Films, the film’s American distributor, campaigns well enough to secure some nominations at the 2025 Oscars.

Another option could have been Girls Will Be Girls by Shuchi Talati. This film won the Audience Award and an Acting Award for lead actress Preeti Panigrahi at Sundance earlier this year. It also had multiple nominations at other international festivals like SXSW, Cleveland, Göteborg, Seattle, etc.

FFI’s History of Missteps

FFI doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to selecting Oscar entries. It seems to be stuck in time, paying little attention to a film’s worldwide or festival-circuit popularity before sending it to the Academy.

Back in 2013, India had a great chance of bagging a nomination with The Lunchbox. It was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, the same company that distributed Lagaan—the last Indian film to be nominated in the top five for Best International Film (then called Best Foreign Language Film). The Lunchbox had a fantastic festival run and received praise from renowned critics, yet we sent The Good Road instead—a film that even most Indians hadn’t heard of, let alone Academy voters.

Gyan Correa, the director of The Good Road, hasn’t made another film in the ten years since it was released, while Ritesh Batra, the director of The Lunchbox, has gone on to work with Hollywood stalwarts like Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. This shows that while talent will find its way to success, we lost a golden opportunity.

Another missed chance came when Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple was a festival darling, backed by Alfonso Cuarón, but instead, we sent a relatively unknown film called Koozhangal. Though Koozhangal had won a prize at Rotterdam, it was nowhere near The Disciple in terms of festival-circuit popularity or North American distribution.

It’s high time FFI learned from its mistakes. Last year, they sent Chhello Show after its festival run had lost steam, and while it did make the top 15 shortlist, it was the wrong choice. RRR had taken the world—critics included—by storm and clearly had a better chance.

Lost Ladies and Its Oscar Prospects

All said and done, we can’t change the entry now. Laapataa Ladies is India’s submission for the 2025 Academy Awards. Now, it’s up to Aamir Khan Productions and JioStudios to invest in a proper campaign and ensure that more voters see the film, as it certainly has the potential to pull in audiences.Given that CODA and Everything Everywhere All At Once won Best Picture recently, it’s clear the Academy has a soft spot for feel-good family dramedies. Let’s hope they shower Laapataa Ladies with the same kind of love and appreciation.