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Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has been picked as India's official entry for Oscars 2025, the Film Federation of India announced on Monday.
The Hindi film, a light-hearted satire on patriarchy, was chosen from a list of 29 films, including Bollywood hit Animal, Malayalam National Award winner Aattam and Cannes winner All We Imagine As Light.
The 13-member select committee, headed by Assamese director Jahnu Barua, unanimously decided on Laapataa Ladies, produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao, for reckoning in the Best International Film category at the Academy Awards.
Besides Laapataa Ladies, Hindi film Srikanth, Tamil movies Vaazhai and Thangalaan and Malayalam film Ullozhukku were among the top five in the 29 title list.
Tamil film Maharaja, Telugu titles Kalki 2898 AD and Hanu-Man, as well as the Hindi films Swatantraya Veer Savarkar and Article 370 were also part of the list.
Laapataa Ladies, which was released in March to universal praise from the critics, is a heartwarming and empowering take on two brides in rural India in 2001 who accidently get swapped during a train journey.
Starring Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastav in the lead alongside Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam and Geeta Aggarwal Sharma, the Hindi film had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
No Indian entry has been nominated for Best International Feature film at the Oscars since the Aamir Khan starrer Lagaan in 2002. Only two other Indian films have previously made it to the final list: the Nargis-starrer Mother India and Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay.
The Malayalam superhit 2018: Everyone is a Hero, last year's Indian entry, was knocked out at the preliminary stage.
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