Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies OUT of Oscar race as Academy announces shortlist for Best International Film – India TV

Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao, was India’s official entry to Oscars 2025 in the Best Foreign Language Film category but failed to make it into the top 10. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming 97th Oscars ceremony on Tuesday. However, this list didn’t have the name of Kiran Rao’s latest directorial. Produced under the banners of Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures, and Jio Studios, Laapataa Ladies was released in theatres on March 1 this year. 

The film’s team including director Kiran Rao and producer Aamir Khan already kickstarted the campaign for the upcoming Academy Awards. The movie was screened in London recently. Last month, a new poster for the film was unveiled with the title Lost Ladies. It highlighted a change for international audiences, as the Hindi word Laapataa was translated to its English word, Lost.

The film featured Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Ravi Kishan and Chhaya Kadam. Set against the backdrop of rural India, Laapataa Ladies revolves around the story of two young brides who get exchanged on a train.

One of the tracks from the film titled ‘Sajni’ is still loved and the most popular one on social media. On Spotify India, it is one of the top tracks of 2024 and has been streamed over 186 million times.

Aamir Khan’s classic Lagaan was the last Indian film to enter the top five nominations in the Best International Feature Film category (formerly called Best Foreign Film) at Oscars 2002. Apart from Lagaan, two other instances when an Indian film made it to the nominations were Mother India in 1957 and  Salaam Bombay in 1988.

Also Read: Hrithik’s War 2 to Ranbir’s Ramayan, 5 films that can overtake Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2 records