‘Laapataa Ladies’ will represent India at the Oscars

Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies is India’s entry for the Best International Film category at the Oscars. The Film Federation of India, which constitutes the Oscar selection committee every year, made the announcement today in Chennai.

The 13-member jury was headed by Assamese director Jahnu Barua. The decision was unanimous, an FFI source told Scroll.

Laapataa Ladies is based on an original story by Biplab Goswami and a screenplay by Sneha Desai. Rao’s second feature is a comedy about two brides who get swapped during a train ride. Through their contrasting journeys, Laapataa Ladies explores the empowerment of women. The Hindi movie stars Pratibha Ranta, Nitanshi Goel, Sparsh Srivastava, Ravi Kishan and Chhaya Kadam.

In its citation, the FFI jury said: “Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world, Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way. It shows you that women can happily desire to be home makers as well as rebels and be entrepreneurially inclined. A story that can simultaneously be seen as one that needs change, and one that can bring about change. Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) is a film that can engage, entertain and make sense not just to women in India but universally as well.”

In a press statement,...

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