A
scene
from
Laapataa
Ladies.
Laapataa
Ladies,
India’s
official
entry
in
the
Best
International
Feature
category
at
the
97th
Academy
Awards,
is
out
of
the
Oscars
race.
The
Hindi
film,
directed
by
Kiran
Rao,
is
not
part
of
the
shortlist
of
15
features
that
will
be
vying
for
a
spot
in
the
final
five,
the
Academy
of
Motion
Picture
Arts
and
Sciences
announced
on
Wednesday
morning.
However,
British-Indian
film-maker
Sandhya
Suri’s
Santosh,
starring
Indian
actors
Shahana
Goswami
and
Sunita
Rajwar,
representing
the
UK,
has
made
it
to
list
that
also
includes
France’s
Emilia
Pérez,
I’m
Still
Here
(Brazil),
Universal
Language
(Canada),
Waves
(Czech
Republic),
The
Girl
with
the
Needle
(Denmark),
and
The
Seed
of
the
Sacred
Fig
from
Germany.
The
other
contenders
in
the
category
are
Touch
(Iceland),
Kneecap
(Ireland),
Vermiglio
(Italy),
Flow”
(Latvia),
Armand
(Norway),
From
Ground
Zero
(Palestine),
Dahomey
(Senegal),
and
How
to
Make
Millions
before
Grandma
Dies
(Thailand).
The
final
Oscar
nominations
will
be
announced
on
January
17.
According
to
the
Academy,
85
countries
or
regions
had
submitted
films
that
were
eligible
for
consideration
in
the
International
Feature
Film
category
for
the
97th
Academy
Awards.
Shahana
Goswami
in
Santosh.
Santosh,
which
marks
Suri’s
feature
directorial
debut,
revolves
around
a
newly
widowed
housewife
(Goswami)
who
inherits
her
late
husband’s
job
as
a
police
constable
and
becomes
embroiled
in
the
investigation
of
a
young
girl’s
murder.
In
September,
the
Film
Federation
of
India
unanimously
chose
Laapataa
Ladies
as
India’s
official
entry
to
the
Oscars
from
a
list
of
29
films,
including
Bollywood
hit
Animal,
Malayalam
National
Award
winner
Aattam
and
Cannes
winner
All
We
Imagine
As
Light.
At
the
time,
the
13-member
all-male
FFI
jury
courted
controversy
on
social
media
for
their
citation
about
the
film.
Many
on
social
media
said
the
brief
went
against
the
message
the
film
was
trying
to
convey.
The
citation
by
the
federation
read:
;Indian
women
are
a
strange
mixture
of
submission
and
dominance.
Well-defined,
powerful
characters
in
one
world,
a
Laapataa
Ladies
(Hindi)
captures
this
diversity
perfectly,
though
in
a
semi-idyllic
world
and
in
a
tongue-in-cheek
way.’
Besides
Santosh,
Anuja
is
another
film
with
an
Indian
connect
that
has
advanced
to
the
next
stage
of
the
Oscars.
It
is
one
of
the
15
films
to
be
selected
in
the
Live
Action
Short
category.
The
New
Delhi-set
short
film
follows
a
gifted
nine-year-old
Anuja,
who
must
make
a
choice
between
education
and
factory
work
alongside
her
sister
—
a
decision
that
will
shape
both
their
futures.
It
stars
Sajda
Pathan
and
Ananya
Shanbhag.
Anuja
is
directed
by
Adam
J
Graves
and
Suchitra
Mattai,
and
has
two-time
Oscar
winning
producer
Guneet
Monga
on
board
as
executive
producer
and
Hollywood
star-writer
Mindy
Kaling
as
producer.
Lagaan,
set
in
the
pre-independence
era,
was
the
last
Indian
film
to
enter
the
top
five
nominations
in
the
best
international
feature
film
category
(formerly
called
best
foreign
film)
at
Oscars
2002.
Only
two
other
films
have
previously
made
it
to
the
final
five
and
they
are
the
Nargis-starrer
Mother
India
and
Mira
Nair’s
Salaam
Bombay!
Late
night
host
and
comedian
Conan
O’Brien
will
host
the
Academy
Awards
on
March
2
at
the
Dolby
Theatre
at
Ovation
Hollywood,
Los
Angeles.