Hansal Mehta, Ricky Kej slam Film Federation after Laapataa Ladies fails to make it to the Oscars shortlist

Laapataa Ladies

Director Hansal Mehta and music composer Ricky Kej have criticised the Film Federation of India for selecting Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies as India's official entry to Oscars this year.

The film, which was the story of two brides in rural India, failed to make it to the shortlist for the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards.

Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej said Laapataa Ladies was a 'wrong choice' for Oscars. Whereas Hansal Mehta directly criticised the Film Federation of India (FFI) for its selection.

Hansal Mehta shared a screenshot of the shortlisted films in the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards, and wrote on his X account: "Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable."

Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable. pic.twitter.com/hiwmatzDbW
Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) December 17, 2024

Many users also replied on his tweet and wrote that it was a wrong choice. "Indian films Laapata! (sic)", while another added, "AWIAL (All We Imagine As Light) will forever be a whatif (sic)."

He tweeted: "Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable.

Many also questioned FFI's decision to not select Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light, which has also got a Golden Globe nomination, as India's official entry to the Oscars.

One user wrote: "I strongly feel, based on the film as well as the traction #AWIAL has got (Cannes, Gotham, Spirit, Golden Globes, etc), it would have gotten a Nomination this year.

FFI’s consistency with backing the wrong film (like The Good Road instead of The Lunchbox) is actually"

Another user wrote: "We need movies that challenges the status quo, RGV did with great films like Shiva, company etc, he changed the way movies are made he took people to the bylanes of India in the true sense. Tamil had great promise, Malayalam is stuff now."

Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej expressed his anger at the selection of a wrong movie for The Academy. He said when are we going to realise...

"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!
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."

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

Ricky Kej in another tweet mentioned that Laapataa Ladies is indded a good film and that he enjoyed it too 'But the treatment, style and presentation was not something that could ever win the "International Feature Film Category" at the Oscars.'

I re-iterate. Laapataa Ladies is a good film, well made, I myself found it engaging and entertaining.. handing subject matter well.. I even watched it a second time with friends. It is a film which fits well within the Indian mainstream.. and there is nothing wrong with that. But
Ricky Kej (@rickykej) December 18, 2024

In September this year, Laapataa Ladies was announced as India’s official entry by the Film Federation of India committee, led by Jahnu Barua.

Also Read: Atlee confirms his next BIG film A6 with Salman Khan, says: 'Going to surprise everyone with the casting'

The film, which has been produced by Aamir Khan and directed by Kiran Rao, was chosen from a list of 29 submitted films across various Indian languages. It also included Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light and the National Award-winning Aattam.

Talking about Oscars, Shahana Goswami-starrer Santosh has made it to Oscars shortlist.

It has been directed by British-Indian filmmaker-documentarian Sandhya Suri and is United Kingdom’s official entry.

Guneet Monga's live-action short film, Anuja, has also been shortlisted. The short film addresses the use of child labour in the garment industry.