Filmmaker Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has been chosen as India's official entry in the Best Foreign Film Category for the Oscars 2025 by the Film Federation of India on Monday. Soon after announcing the news, Kiran Rao shared her heartfelt gratitude in a long statement. Citing the impact of cinema as a medium, Kiran Rao wrote, "I am deeply honored and delighted that our film Laapataa Ladies has been chosen as India's official entry to the Academy Awards. This recognition is a testament to the tireless work of my entire team, whose dedication and passion brought this story to life. Cinema has always been a powerful medium to connect hearts, transcend boundaries, and ignite meaningful conversations. I hope that this film will resonate with audiences across the world, just as it has in India."
Kiran Rao continued, "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the selection committee and to everyone who believed in this film. It is indeed a great privilege to be selected from among such amazing Indian films this year - who are equally worthy contenders for this honor." Thanking the cast, crew and production team for their relentless endeavour, Kiran wrote, "My deepest thanks go to Aamir Khan Productions and Jio Studios for their unwavering support and faith in this vision. It has been a privilege to work alongside such a passionate and talented team of professionals who shared my commitment to telling this story. I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the entire cast and crew, whose immense talent, dedication, and hard work made this film possible. This journey has been one of incredible collaboration and growth."
Kiran's words for the audience were, "To the audience, your love and support mean the world to us, and it is your belief in this film that continues to inspire us as filmmakers to push creative boundaries. Thank you once again for this incredible honor. We look forward to taking this journey ahead with great enthusiasm."
Laapataa Ladies has been selected from all India entries of 12 Hindi films, 6 Tamil and 4 Malayalam films. The jury has been led by 13 members this year. The film was contending alongside 29 film including names such as Animal, Kill, Kalki 2898 AD, Srikanth, Chandu Champion, Joram, Maidaan, Sam Bahadur, Article 370, the Malayalam film Aattam, which won the National Award for Best Feature Film this year and Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light, a Cannes winner.
Laapataa Ladies is based on an award-winning story by Biplab Goswami. The screenplay and dialogue are written by Sneha Desai, while Divyanidhi Sharma has taken care of the additional dialogues. Laapataa Ladies had a screening at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year. The film was released in theatres in India on March 1. The film has been applauded by critics and audiences alike. Despite not minting a whopping amount of money at the box office, the film garnered a new fanbase after it was released on the streaming giant Netflix.
Laapataa Ladies is directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Kiran Rao, Aamir Khan, Jyoti Deshpande. The film had a fresh bunch of faces. Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastav, Chhaya Kadam, Ravi Kishan featured in the film.
