Laapataa Ladies out of Oscar race, Santosh shortlisted

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 (AMPAS) announced on Wednesday morning.

Aamir Khan's production house issued a statement after losing the Oscar race. It read, "Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies) did not make it to the Academy Awards shortlist this year, and we are of course disappointed, but equally we are immensely grateful for the incredible support and belief we've received throughout this journey.

However, British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri's Santosh, starring Indian actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, representing the UK, has made it to the 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.

At the time, the 13-member all-male jury of FFI courted controversy on social media for their citation of Kiram Rao’s 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 connection 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.

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.