Why is Laapataa Ladies India's best bid to break the Oscar jinx?
The Kiran Rao directorial is India's official entry for Oscars 2025
Laapataa Ladies is India's entry for the 2025 Oscars under Foreign Film Category
It has been selected from among all India nominations of 12 Hindi, 6 Tamil, and 4 Malayalam films
Kiran Rao's film also had a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year
Did you know India has never won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film? Some Indians have won Academy Awards here and there but despite being nominated, they’ve never won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
An Indian film first reached the Best Foreign Language Film category in 1958 when director Mehboob's Mother India made it to the category. Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! was nominated 31 years later, followed by Aamir Khan's Lagaan in 2002.
Since then, prominent Indians like Gulzar and A. R. Rahman have won Oscars, but the Best Foreign Language Film Award continues to elude Bollywood.
Until now; Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies is India's official entry to the Academy Awards—an impressive achievement, considering it wasn't the highest grosser of the year, nor did it feature an ensemble cast.
Kiran Rao, the director, praised the team for 'bringing this story to life' in her Instagram post after the announcement.
Many critics believe that the Film Federation of India selected a film worthy of an award after a long time. Some might wonder why Laapataa Ladies was chosen from 22 nominations from all over the country (12 Hindi films, six Tamil, and four Malayalam films), for those who have seen it, the selection was obvious."
It didn’t break box-office records or feature a star cast, but it does have a storyline that might appease an international jury, a cast that carried the storyline perfectly, and a director who packaged it the way it should have been.
Laapataa Ladies can go where no Bollywood film had gone before, because of many reasons. Here’s why Laapataa Ladies’ selection could be its golden ticket.
It offers a rare, authentic portrayal of rural India
Laapataa Ladies revolves around a young farmer named Deepak (Sparsh Shrivastav) who mistakes another man’s wife for his own, while descending from a crowded train. Things go from bad to worse when the ‘mistaken’ wife Jaya (Prathiba Ranta) starts behaving suspiciously, while the 'real' wife, Phool (Nitanshi Goel), longs for her husband in another city.
Set in the fictional village of Nirmal Pradesh in 2001, the film’s strongest suit is its ability to portray the real India, where farmers follow the joint-family system, where privacy isn’t common, and where law enforcers are corrupt but with a heart of gold. The story takes place in the days before cell phones and the internet were common, making it more interesting.
The film had a fresh bunch of faces
Making a film with no known faces is always a difficult thing for a director, especially if you are making a comeback after more than a decade. However, Kiran Rao capitalized on this by presenting characters instead of actors.
Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastav, and Chhaya Kadam might not have been as popular when cast, but today everyone in India recognizes their names.
As for veteran Ravi Kishan, the role of Sub Inspector Shyam Manohar was a game-changer as he finally received the recognition he’d longed for since his debut.
The feel-good factor will certainly help the film
Most films submitted and shortlisted for the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars have an agenda, however, Laapataa Ladies doesn’t have one. Its biggest USP is that it is different from run-of-the-mill films like Pathaan, Jawan, and Animal.
It shows other filmmakers that you don’t need to have a huge budget to make a successful film and champions the cause of low-budget entertainers alongside 12th Fail.
There was no fight sequence, no villain, or inappropriate scene to draw crowds, yet people are still talking about Laapataa Ladies as if they were part of the story.
It would even have made William Shakespeare proud!
Laapataa Ladies reworks the age-old 'mistaken identity' formula in a way that would make Shakespeare proud. He used to incorporate the mistaken identity formula in his plays and it has been done to death by Bollywood, yet Laapataa Ladies feels fresh, non-preachy, and relatable.
It also makes you wonder what you would have done, had you been in the same situation. Like Aamir Khan’s earlier production Peepli Live, it it reveals the real India, where people don’t live in lavish houses, wealth isn’t measured by cars, and technology isn’t common.
Despite these restrictions, the director manages to create hilarious situations out of thin air, thanks to the gripping screenplay and everyday dialogues which are simple like in TV dramas, instead of the usual explosiveness found in film dialogues.
Why the film might win India its first Foreign Film Oscar
Everything from art direction to the diction of the characters was spot on in this film; once the audience enters the Laapataa Ladies' domain, they are captivated by the beautiful locations, simplistic way of living, and unknown faces doing regular things like searching for their loved ones, worrying about each other, etc.
If you look at it from a jury's point of view, this film has everything they need to decide in its favor. The common man of India is portrayed, their issues are highlighted, women's empowerment is promoted and above all, the world is shown a side of India that not many have seen. It wouldn't be surprising if Laapataa Ladies manages to win an Oscar, because it checks every box in the checklist of those who matter.
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