Hansal Mehta Slams Film Federation After Laapataa Ladies Out Of Oscar 2024 Race

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DECEMBER 18,2024

One of the pathbreaking movies of 2024, Laapataa Ladies set a new standard for filmmakers and storytellers. With its incredible plot and spectacular cast, the Film Federation of India (FFI) decided to make it India's official entry for the Oscars 2024.

However, the Kiran Rao directorial failed to make it to the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards, leaving many from the film industry questioning whether Laapataa Ladies was the right choice.

While Grammy-winner Ricky Kej called the film a 'wrong choice' for the Oscars, director Hansal Mehta slammed the Film Federation of India for its selection over other deserving movies.

Hansal Mehta criticises FFI

The Buckingham Murders filmmaker took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared a screenshot of official entries in the International Feature category at the Oscar Awards 2024. He took a rather satirical route and slammed the film federation's choice.

His tweet read, "Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable." Have a look.


Many users agreed with Mehta, and some even wrote that it was a wrong choice. One user wrote, "Indian films Laapata!" while another commented, "AWIAL (All We Imagine As Light) will forever be a what if."

Also Read: After Laapata Ladies, Randeep's Swatantrya Veer Savarkar Submitted For Oscars

Another Twitterati criticised the Film Federation of India for not nominating films that were Oscar-winning worthy. The tweet read, "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 unbelievable."


Ricky Kej calls Laapataa Ladies a wrong choice

The Grammy-winning musician took to X and shared his views on Laapataa Ladies missing the Oscars 2024. As per him, the film was not the right choice to be nominated for the 97th Academy Award.

His tweet read, "So, the @TheAcademy Oscars shortlist is out. #LaapataaLadies is a very well-made, entertaining movie (I enjoyed it), but it was absolutely the wrong choice to represent India for the best #InternationalFeatureFilm category. As expected, it lost. When are we going to realise, 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!"


Also Read: Loved Laapata Ladies? Watch 5 Such Unmissable Feminist Films

"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.
Below is the poster of #LaapataaLadies. I am sure most academy voting members dismissed the film just by looking at these," Kej added.

In September this year, the Kiran Rao directorial was announced as India's official entry for the Academy Awards 2024 in the Best International Feature category.

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