Laapataa Ladies out of Oscar race, Guneet Monga short film Anuja shortlisted
Kiran Rao-directed Laapataa Ladies is out of the Oscars 2025 race. The Academy, on Tuesday, announced 15 films that have been shortlisted for the next round. These films will now be viewed and voted on by Academy members to determine the final list of nominees.
The Aamir Khan-produced film was one of the official entries sent by 85 countries and regions. Both Aamir and Kiran had been actively campaigning for Laapataa Ladies in the US until last month.
In September, the film was announced as India’s official entry by the Film Federation of India committee led by Jahnu Barua. Laapataa Ladies was selected from 29 submitted films across various Indian languages, including Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light. A section of the industry and cinephiles continues to feel that Payal’s film had a better chance at international honours. The film, honoured with the Cannes Grand Prix, has even secured a nomination at the Golden Globes. There is also buzz that the film might enter the Oscars competition as an independent entry.
On the other hand, the Shahana Goswami-starrer Santosh has managed to maintain its position in the Oscars race. Directed by British-Indian filmmaker-documentarian Sandhya Suri, the film was selected as the United Kingdom’s official entry. As readers may know, Santosh had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Other films advancing to the next round of the 97th Academy Awards include:
I’m Still Here (Brazil), Universal Language (Canada), Waves (Czech Republic), The Girl with the Needle (Denmark), Emilia Pérez (France), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany), Touch (Iceland), Kneecap (Ireland), Vermiglio (Italy), Flow (Latvia), Armand (Norway), From Ground Zero (Palestine), Dahomey (Senegal), and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Thailand).
Guneet Monga’s live-action short film, Anuja, has been shortlisted as well.
