‘Laapataa Ladies’ Not in Oscar 2025 Race: Ricky Kej Slams India’s Film Selection
'Laapataa Ladies' Not in Oscar 2025 Race: Ricky Kej Slams India’s Film Selection
Aamir Khan’s production, Laapataa Ladies, will not be competing in the Oscar 2025 race. Directed by Kiran Rao, the film served as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature category.
Ricky Kej, a Grammy Award winner, was among the first to express his thoughts on the recent snub. He took to X to convey that Laapataa Ladies was not the appropriate selection to represent India at the esteemed awards ceremony.
“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!” , says a post by Ricky.
The decision is particularly disheartening, especially following Aamir and Kiran’s vigorous efforts to promote the film in the United States.
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.
— Ricky Kej (@rickykej) December 18, 2024
When are we going to realize.. year… pic.twitter.com/iWGpSXY1KD
In September, the Film Federation of India designated ‘Laapataa Ladies’ as India’s official entry. This film, directed by Kiran Rao, was selected from a pool of 29 submitted films.
Among the 85 eligible countries and regions, 15 international films progressed to the next stage of voting in this highly competitive category. Although Laapataa Ladies did not qualify, Santosh, a Hindi-language film from the United Kingdom, successfully secured a place on the shortlist.
“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 filmmakers who are uncompromising in their art.. low budget or big budget.. star or no star.. just great artistic cinema.,” adds Ricky.
