Laapataa Ladies out of Oscars’ race

Laapataa Ladies, India’s official entry in the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards, is out of the Oscars’ race but Sandhya Suri’s Hindi film Santosh, representing the UK, has advanced to the next round. Directed by Kiran Rao, Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies in English) failed to make it to the shortlist of 15 films that will be vying for a spot in the final five, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced on Wednesday. The final nominations will be announced on January 17.

However, Santosh, a Hindi language crime drama from British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri and featuring actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, has found a spot in the final 15 as the official entry from the UK.

Santosh, which premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, is set in Uttar Pradesh and revolves around a newly widowed housewife (Goswami) as she inherits her late husband’s job as a police constable and becomes embroiled in the investigation of a Dalit girl’s murder.

Meanwhile, the list also includes France’s Emilia Perez, 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 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).

Besides Santosh, “Anuja” is another film with an Indian connection that has made it 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. It stars Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag.