Hansal Mehta said this on Missing Ladies not making it to the Oscars shortlist

With Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’, India’s official submission for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, missing the Oscars shortlist, filmmaker Hansal Mehta and Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej have criticized the Film Federation of India (FFI).

Mehta vented his dissatisfaction on X (previously Twitter). He questioned India’s “selection” process for films and posted a screenshot of the Best International Feature category shortlist.

“The Indian Film Federation succeeds once again! “Year after year, their film selection and strike rate are flawless,” he wrote.

https://twitter.com/mehtahansal/status/1869131988810305929?

In his remarks on X, Ricky Kej referred to “Laapataa Ladies” as the “wrong choice” to represent India at the Oscars.

“When will we realize that we keep picking the incorrect movies year after year? We should be winning the #InternationalFeatureFilm category every year since there are so many great films produced,” he added.

Our ‘Mainstream Bollywood’ bubble prevents us from seeing beyond the movies that we personally like, which is unfortunate. Rather, we should just seek out high-caliber films by artists who are unwavering in their craft, regardless of their budget, celebrity status, or lack thereof. The #LaapataaLadies poster may be seen below. Just by looking at them, I’m convinced the majority of Academy voters rejected the movie,” he said.

‘Laapataa Ladies’ was chosen in September by the Film Federation of India, under the direction of Jahnu Barua, from a list of 29 films in various Indian languages, including the National Award-winning Aattam and Cash Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light.

“Laapataa Ladies” is no longer in the running, but Sandhya Suri’s British-Indian film “Santosh,” starring Shahana Goswami, is still a contender to be the UK’s official submission.

In addition, India has some optimism at the Oscars since Guneet Monga’s live-action short film “Anuja” has been shortlisted.