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Filmmaker Kiran Rao’s directorial venture Laapataa Ladies is set to represent India as it becomes the official entry for Oscars 2025. Film Federation of India announced here on Monday. Apart from this, Tamil film Maharaja, Telugu titles Kalki 2898 AD and Hanu-Man, as well as the Hindi films Swatantraya Veer Savarkar and Article 370 were also on the list. Well, this is definitely a commendable feat for the movie.
Before Laapataa Ladies got an entry to the Oscars, director Kiran Rao said the Film Federation of India (FFI) will pick the best film. “My dream would be fulfilled if it was, if it would go (to Oscars). But it’s a process, and I’m hoping it’ll (Laapataa Ladies) be considered. I’m sure the best film will go, whoever they choose in the scheme of things,” Kiran told PTI.
Earlier in February, at a press screening for the movie, Kiran said: “Our primary recognition comes from the audience’s response at the box office. If the viewers and the nation appreciate our work, that would be the greatest accolade for us. There is a specific community tasked with assessing and selecting the finest films of the year, and if our film is deemed worthy, we will submit it for the prestigious Oscars.“
Kiran Rao on Laapataa Ladies’ box office performance
During a recent interaction with Faye D’Souza, Kiran Rao got candid about the box office performance of Laapataa Ladies. Dubbing the film a failure, the filmmaker said, “In some ways, both these films (Dhobi Ghat and Laapataa Ladies) haven’t done great at the box office. Dhobi Ghat, in fact, did some big business for its time. 10-15 years later, Laapataa Ladies didn’t do that much more than Dhobi Ghat. So, in some ways, I do feel that sense of failure.”
She continued, “By box office metrics, we weren’t a success. In the conventional sense, we didn’t do hundreds of crores, or even Rs 30, 40, 50 crore. Failure is the way to put it. I do feel responsible that the film didn’t do that well at the box office. I felt it a lot during Dhobi Ghat because we didn’t have any alternate mediums, we didn’t have OTT. So it didn’t get a lot of audience. I do feel that film was different for its time, and very unusual for a theatrical release back then. But other than that, not really. I haven’t felt a deep sense of having failed at something.”
Laapataa Ladies stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan.
