Kiran Rao’s comedy-drama Laapataa Ladies was celebrated globally last year for its storytelling and performances. Since its release, both critics and audiences have sent out praise on the film and the admiration continues to this day.
When Rao’s film was selected as India’s official entry to the 97th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category, the entire world celebrated.
However, the movie did not make the shortlist, which was revealed on Wednesday. A wave of disappointment swept the nation after the announcement, although some individuals had different opinions.
Laapataa Ladies enjoyed an exciting journey at a number of international film festivals when it was released last year, including the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne and the 48th Toronto International Film Festival 2023, where it won the Best Film (Critics’ Choice) award.
Director Kiran Rao became emotional and expressed thoughts as well. The film’s official Instagram page shared a moving post about it missing out on this year’s Oscars. The filmmaker quickly reposted the same post with a heart emoji.
The Laapataa Ladies team expressed their appreciation for the tremendous love and support the movie has received.
A portion of the lengthy post read, “We extend our gratitude to the Academy members and the FFI jury for considering our film. To be included in this prestigious process alongside some of the finest films from across the world is an honour in itself. Our heartfelt thanks to all the audiences around the world who have expressed their love and support for our film.”
Despite the emotions caused by the news, Shahana Goswami’s Hindi-language film Santosh managed to make it to the Oscar shortlist. The movie is the UK’s entry for the category of documentary short films.
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