On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences announced the 15 shortlisted titles for the International Features Film. India’s official entry for the Oscars, Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’ (Lost Ladies) has missed the shortlist. This stirred a row of backlash against the Film Federation of India. The criticism is over not choosing Payal Kapadia’s Cannes winner ‘All We Imagine as Light’ as India’s official entry. The film bagged the second most prestigious award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Prix. Notably, the title has also received two nods for the prestigious Golden Globe awards.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta and musician Ricky Kej have also slammed FFI for choosing ‘Laapataa Ladies’ over ‘All We Imagine as Light.’ Expressing disappointment, Hansal Mehta shared a snippet of the shortlisted films. In the caption, he wrote, “Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable.” Moreover, three-time Grammy recipient, Ricky Kej also expressed his frustration with the decision. While he appreciated Kiran Rao’s directorial, he stated that the title was the wrong pick for the Oscars.

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“So, the @TheAcademy Oscars shortlist is out. #LaapataaLadies is a very well made, entertaining movie (I enjoyed it), but was absolutely the wrong choice to represent India for the best #InternationalFeatureFilm category. As expected, it lost. When are we going to realize…year after year…we are choosing the wrong films. There are so many excellent movies made, and we should be winning the #InternationalFeatureFilm category every year!”

So, the @TheAcademy Oscars shortlist is out. #LaapataaLadies is a very well made, entertaining movie (I enjoyed it), but was absolutely the wrong choice to represent India for the best #InternationalFeatureFilm category. As expected, it lost.
When are we going to realize.. year… pic.twitter.com/iWGpSXY1KD

— Ricky Kej (@rickykej) December 18, 2024

He added, “Unfortunately, we live in a “Mainstream Bollywood” bubble, where we cannot look beyond films that we ourselves find entertaining. Instead, we should just look for good films made by film-makers who are uncompromising in their art…low budget or big budget…star or no star…just great artistic cinema.  Below is the poster of #LaapataaLadies, I am sure most academy voting members dismissed the film just by looking at these.”

On similar lines, several social media users have also expressed their fury over FFI’s decision. One user penned, “FFI snubbed AWIAL, destroying our chances to be on the list. The Film Federation of India requires a full revamp. The ones who are there now should step down and let others who understand and know the art of cinema take over.” Meanwhile, another wrote, “Guess what is Missing or Laapata from the Oscars shortlist. Future lesson for that confederacy of dunces of Film Federation of India committee – An Oscar campaign for your beloved desi film can’t start in October. All We Imagine As Light had a direct path to an Oscar nod.”

Also Read: ‘Laapataa Ladies’ misses Oscar shortlist; Aamir Khan responds

‘All We Imagine as Light’ features Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, and Hridhu Haroon. The film is an Indo-French co-production between Petit Chaos from France and Chalk and Cheese Films from India. Janus and Sideshow will distribute the film in North America. On the other hand, Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’ stars budding talents Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ratna, and Sparsh Shrivastava in lead roles. Additionally, popular actor Ravi Kishan plays a key role.