Kiran Rao’s film Laapataa Ladies has been selected as India's official entry for the 2025 Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category.
The announcement was made on Monday by Jahnu Barua, Chairman of the Film Federation of India, after the film was chosen from a pool of 22 Indian films, including 12 Hindi, 6 Tamil, and 4 Malayalam entries.
The jury, comprising 13 members, reviewed 29 films in total, including high-profile contenders like Animal, Kill, Kalki 2898 AD, Chandu Champion, Maidaan, and the National Award-winning Malayalam film Aattam.
Directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Rao alongside Aamir Khan and Jyoti Deshpande, Laapataa Ladies features a relatively new cast, including Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastav, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan.
The film is an adaptation of an award-winning story by Biplab Goswami, with a screenplay and dialogues penned by Sneha Desai and additional dialogues contributed by Divyanidhi Sharma.
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year, Laapataa Ladies was released in Indian theaters on March 1, 2024. Though it didn’t achieve major box-office success, the film found critical acclaim and gained a devoted audience after streaming on Netflix.
Critics have praised its feminist themes, focusing on women's aspirations in the face of societal restrictions.
Laapataa Ladies is described as a lighthearted satire that addresses the oppression of women post-marriage without getting bogged down by its weighty subject matter.
It is also set to release in Japan on October 4, 2024, through Japanese entertainment company Shochiku, adding another milestone in its international journey.