India has selected Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies) as its candidate for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards.
Directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Jio Studios, the Hindi film is described as a light-hearted satire on patriarchy.
It follows two brides, whose identities are hidden by an elaborate bridal head covering, who get mixed up on the eve of their wedding days, setting them on the paths of very different destinies from those they had envisaged.
A committee overseen by the Film Federation of India selected the title from 29 contenders which also included Bollywood hit Animal, Malayalam National Award winner Aattam and Cannes title All We Imagine As Light.
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The latter film directed by Payal Kapadia had been cited in international circles as a hot contender to represent India this year, thanks to its Cannes credentials.
That picture, following two nurses who embark on a road trip to a beach town with a mystical forest, world premiered at Cannes as the first Indian work to compete in the festival since 1994.
Lead produced by Paris-based production company Petit Chaos, the film had also made it onto the French Oscar submission shortlist, but failed to make the cut with France selecting Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez.
Lapaata Ladies received a warm response when it world premiered in Toronto’s Centrepiece line-up in 2023, ahead of its release in India in 2024.
The picture is produced by Bollywood star Aamir Khan and backed by Jio Studios, under a multi-picture deal announced last year.
Khan has previously been involved in three other Indian Oscar submissions as the star and producer of Lagaan, which nominated in 2001, as well as Rang de Basanti (2006) and Like Stars On Earth (2008), which he also directed.
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