India@Oscars: ‘We Are Choosing The Wrong Films’

‘Unfortunately,
we
live
in
a
‘Mainstream
Bollywood’
bubble,
where
we
cannot
look
beyond
films
that
we
ourselves
find
entertaining.’

Hansal
Mehta
and
Grammy-winning
composer
Ricky
Kej
have
slammed
the
Film
Federation
of
India
after
Kiran
Rao’s

Laapataa
Ladies,
India’s
official
entry
for
Best
International
Feature
at
the
97th
Academy
Awards,


failed
to
make
it
to
the
Oscars
shortlist.

Mehta
took
to
X
to
express
his
disappointment:
‘Film
Federation
of
India
does
it
again!
Their
strike
rate
and
selection
of
films
year
after
year
is
impeccable.’

‘I’m
sure
the
Academy
always
selects
and
awards
some
of
the
best
in
the
business.
This
isn’t
just
about
them
or
these
films
in
particular
but
about
the
ecosystem
at
large
—
film
festivals,
international
producers
and
a
whole
system
that
can
take
our
stories
wider.

‘India
isn’t
only
about
colonialism,
poverty,
oppression
and
exploitation.
Like
America
doesn’t
have
stories
only
about
guns,
racism
and
Trump,’
Mehta
adds.

Grammy
winner
Ricky
Kej
also
shared
his
thoughts
on
X,
calling

Laapataa
Ladies
the
‘wrong
choice’
to
represent
India
at
the
Oscars.

‘Laapataa
Ladies
is
a
very
well
made,
entertaining
movie
(I
enjoyed
it)
but
was
absolutely
the
wrong
choice
to
represent
India
for
the
best
International
Feature
Film
category.
As
expected,
it
lost,’
he
posted.

‘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!

‘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,’
he
posted.

‘I
reiterate.

Laapataa
Ladies
is
a
good
film,
well
made.
I
myself
found
it
engaging
and
entertaining…handling
the
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
the
treatment,
style
and
presentation
was
not
something
that
could
ever
win
the
International
Feature
Film
Category
at
the
Oscars.

‘The
poster
itself,
with
the
retro-collage
look,
the
doodles
and
the
comic
fonts
does
not
show
depth
that
is
usually
preferred
in
this
category.’

In
September,
the
Film
Federation
of
India,
led
by
Jahnu
Barua,
selected

Laapataa
Ladies
from
a
list
of
29
films
in
several
Indian
languages,
including
Payal
Kapadia’s

All
We
Imagine
As
Light
and
the
National
Award-winning

Aattam.

While

Laapataa
Ladies
is
out
of
the
race,
Shahana
Goswami-starrer

Santosh,
directed
by
British-Indian
film-maker
Sandhya
Suri,
is
still
in
contention
as
the
United
Kingdom’s
official
entry.

The
live-action
short
film

Anuja
has
also
been
shortlisted,
giving
India
some
hope
at
the
Oscars.