New Delhi:
Lapata Ladies, India’s official entry in the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards, has been knocked out of the Oscar race.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced on Wednesday morning that the Hindi film directed by Kiran Rao is not part of the shortlist of 15 feature films vying to make the final five.
After losing the Oscar race, Aamir Khan’s production house has issued a statement. It read, “Lapata Ladies (Lost Ladies) did not make the shortlist for the Academy Awards this year and we are certainly disappointed, but at the same time we are extremely grateful for the incredible support and trust we have received throughout this journey.
We express our gratitude to the Academy members and the FFI Jury for considering our film at Aamir Khan Productions, Jio Studios and Kindling Productions. It is an honor to be included in this prestigious process with some of the best films from around the world. Our heartfelt thanks to all the audiences around the world who have expressed their love and support for our film. We congratulate all the teams of the top 15 shortlisted films and wish them all the best for the next phase of the awards. For us this is not the end but a step forward. We are committed to bringing more powerful stories to life and sharing them with the world. Thank you for being a part of this journey.”
However, British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s Santosh, starring Indian actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar representing the UK, has made it to the list, which also features France’s Emilia Perez, 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.
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 Died (Thailand).
The final Oscar nominations will be announced on January 17.
According to the Academy, 85 countries or territories had submitted films that were eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 97th Academy Awards.
Suri’s feature directorial debut Santosh revolves around a newly married housewife (Goswami) who inherits her late husband’s job as a police constable and gets entangled in the investigation of a young girl’s murder.
India’s official entry Lapata Ladies (English: Lost Ladies) is a gently subversive feminist drama set in rural India in the early 2000s. Sneha Desai wrote the script and dialogues for Missing Ladies based on the story by Biplab Goswami. Divyanidi Sharma wrote additional dialogues.
It is the story of two brides who get swapped while traveling in a train on their wedding day. In this, Nitanshi Goyal and Pratibha Ranta play the roles of brides Phool and Jaya respectively, while Sparsh Srivastava plays the role of a helpless groom in search of his wife.
Chhaya Kadam, Ravi Kishan and Geeta Aggarwal Sharma are also included in its cast.
Lapata Ladies, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), was released in theaters on March 1 to rave 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 selected Lapata Ladies as India’s official entry to the Oscars from a list of 29 films, which also included Bollywood hit Animal, Malayalam National Award winner Aatma and Cannes winner All We Imagine As. Lights were included.
At the time, the FFI’s 13-member all-male jury had sparked controversy on social media for its quotes about the film. Many people on social media said that this brief description contradicted the message the film was trying to convey.
The Federation’s citation states: “Indian women are a strange mixture of subordination and dominance. In a world of well-defined, powerful characters, Lapata Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, albeit in a semi-pleasant In the world and in a tongue-in-cheek way.” Apart from Santosh, Anuja is another film with an Indian connection that has reached the next stage of the Oscars. It is one of 15 films to be selected in the Live Action Short category.
Set in New Delhi, this short film tells the story of talented nine-year-old Anuja, who must choose between education and factory work with her sister – a decision that will shape the future of both of them. It stars Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbaug.
Anuja is directed by Adam J Graves and Suchitra Mattai, and has two-time Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga 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 Songs), Animated Short Film, and Sound and Visual Effects.
Lagaan, based on 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 the Oscars 2002.
Earlier, only two other films had made it to the final five and they were Nargis-starrer “Mother India” and Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay!” Last year, the peppy, foot-tapping chartbuster Natu Natu from SS Rajamouli’s Telugu period action film “RRR” won the Academy Award in the Best Original Song category with The Elephant Whispers, directed by Karthiki Gonsalves and produced by Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. Is. , winning an 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 Theater at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles.
