The Kiran Rao-directed film Laapataa Ladies was India’s official Oscar 2025 entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category, although it did not place in the top 10. On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the ten categories’ shortlists for the 97th Academy Awards. The title of Kiran Rao’s most recent film, however, was missing from this list. Laapataa Ladies, which was produced by Jio Studios, Kindling Pictures, and Aamir Khan Productions, debuted in theatres on March 1 of this year.
The film’s crew, which includes producer Aamir Khan and director Kiran Rao, has already launched the Academy Awards campaign. Recently, the film was shown in London. The movie’s new poster, titled Lost Ladies, was released last month. The translation of the Hindi word Laapataa to its English equivalent, Lost, marked a shift for audiences around the world. Nitanshi Goel, Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam, Pratibha Ranta, and Sparsh Shrivastava were all in the movie. The plot of Laapataa Ladies, which is set in rural India, centres on the exchange of two young brides aboard a train.
One of the movie’s songs, “Sajni,” is still adored and the most shared on social media. It has received over 186 million streams on Spotify India, making it one of the most popular songs of 2024.
The latest Indian film to make it into the top five nominations for Best International Feature Film (formerly known as Best Foreign Film) at the 2002 Oscars was Aamir Khan’s iconic Lagaan. In addition to Lagaan, Mother India (1957) and Salaam Bombay (1988) were two more Indian films that made it to the nominations.
