Kiran Rao and India’s hopes of being nominated for the Oscars were crushed. On December 17, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) published the shortlisted film still in the run for a nomination in 10 categories, in which Laapataa Ladies, retitled Lost Ladies for the international audience, was noticeably absent.
Take a look at the shortlisted film for the Best International Feature category:
Brazil, “I’m Still Here”
Canada, “Universal Language”
Czech Republic, “Waves”
Denmark, “The Girl with the Needle”
France, “Emilia Pérez”
Germany, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Iceland, “Touch”
Ireland, “Kneecap”
Italy, “Vermiglio”
Latvia, “Flow”
Norway, “Armand”
Palestine, “From Ground Zero”
Senegal, “Dahomey”
Thailand, “How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies”
United Kingdom, “Santosh”
Now, many are taking to social media to express their disappointment and are targeting the Film Federation of India (FFI) for not selecting Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light as India’s official pick. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta (Shahid, The Buckingham Murders) shared his disappointment in the federation for not making the right choice, and for not expanding India’s story beyond its social issues.
Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Kej also stated that though Laapataa Ladies was an “entertaining film” and the FFI made the “wrong choice.”
Many netizens agreed with Tej’s opinion, commenting, “Well put!! Movie is good but not apt choice for Oscars,” while another wrote, “All We Imagine As Light was a guaranteed nomination.”
Columnist and entertainment industry tracker Sreedhar Pillai joined the social media reaction and advised that films should not be selected based on how India reacts to them but on what the jury would like to see.
Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light has received rave reviews and has bagged multiple awards in the past month, including the Best International Feature at the New York Film Critics Circle and the Best International Feature trophy at the reputed Gotham Awards 2024. The Malayalam-Hindi film is also nominated for two Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture Non-English Language and Best Direction – Motion Picture.
But as for the Oscars, it was a setback for the Indo-French production as it was considered for both French and Indian selection, but could not make it in either. However, France’s selection Emilia Pérez leads as a potential nominee as it was named in six Oscars shortlists, including Original Score, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and two shortlists in Original Song.
However, India is not totally out of the race as the Hindi film Santosh was named among the 15 shortlisted films. The film was a submission by the United Kingdom, similar to Slumdog Millionaire, which won Best Picture and seven other wins at the 2009 Academy Awards.
The final nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on January 17, 2025.
