Hansal Mehta criticizes FFI’s ‘Dismal Strike Rate’ after Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies fails to make Oscar cut

Hansal Mehta slams FFI as Laapataa Ladies, India's official entry in the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards, is out of the Oscars race.

Hansal Mehta-Laapataa Ladies

Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao and bankrolled by Aamir Khan was India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film is now out of the Oscars as it did not make it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' official shortlists for the upcoming 97th Oscars ceremony. As soon as the news came out, Hansal Mehta, Ricky Kej, and others reacted to the news.

Hansal Mehta on Laapataa Ladies' elimination from Oscars 2025 race

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta criticized FFI's dismal strike rate and selection of movies year after year. Taking to his X (Twitter) account, he wrote: "Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and selection of films year after year is impeccable."

Grammy Award-winning composer Ricky Kej calls Laapataa Ladies 'Wrong Choice'

Grammy Award-winning composer Ricky Kej also took to his X handle and shared Laapataa Ladies posters along with the caption: "#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."

Also Read: Laapataa Ladies - Release date, OTT partner, plot, cast, trailer, and everything there is to know about Kiran Rao’s directorial

“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,” Ricky concluded.

The FFI 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. Many fans also took to social media and mentioned that they wished to see Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light recognized at the Oscars 2025. For the uninitiated, the film has already bagged Golden Globes 2025 and Critics Choice Awards 2025 nominations.

Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.

Also Read: Laapataa Ladies Review: Kiran Rao sparks a resounding conversation amid a forest of untamed animals set loose

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