No matter how much we say that we don’t need the West’s validation for judging our movies, there’s something that feels special about the Oscars. And when a film like Laapataa Ladies is sent on the global platform to represent our country, it feels like a triumph not just for the movie, but also for the audience and all the people that facilitated its journey to the zenith.
The announcement was made by the jury of the Film Federation of India (FFI), the apex body that annually selects the official entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Well, there’s a reason the movie became the darling of not just the critics, but also the audience and the box office. I mean who would have thought this small-budget movie comprising mostly newcomers would go on to beat the Netflix watch-time of Animal? The enormous love that the movie received from the audience- you must have seen the countless Instagram stories urging you to watch it in theaters – is a testament to how good stories find their place in people’s hearts.
The selection of Laapataa Ladies makes a statement in itself about how the perception of the West of rural India needs to be changed. One often sees movies about India that penetrate foreign markets talking mostly about the poor and miserable lives of Indians. However, Laapataa Ladies is a story of hope. Through its satire, it subtly addresses the illogical absurd nature of the accepted norms of patriarchy. It addresses the hardships of what it means to be a woman in the setting it chooses, but the lens is always of one that dares to dream.
I think where Laapataa really hits it out of the park is director Kiran Rao telling this fiercely feminist story not as a tale of grave seriousness, but rather as a fairytale grounded in reality. Sweetness and simplicity- that’s the tonality she chooses to tell her wholesome inspiring story. She ensures that it’s made palatable with the right amount of comedy of errors, emotional melodrama, and of all things keeping its audience entertained throughout making it reach the largest audience possible. Well, how else would you make them swallow the bitter pill?
After this announcement, people who made it a roaring success didn’t hold back from showing their love on social media.
And of course, there were some shots fired at Sandeep Reddy Vanga.
There were some people of the opinion that Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light should have been the choice instead.
It’s heartwarming to see All We Imagine As Light getting the deserved love and appreciation from the audience, and we think it’s fair for a person to think that it should have been the choice for Oscars – but that shouldn’t become a reason to discredit the brilliance of Laapataa Ladies. One has to understand that art is subjective, and it doesn’t become any less powerful if it’s catering to a large crowd and talking to people about serious topics while keeping a light-hearted tone.