All We Imagine As Light’ Is Replaced With ‘Laapataa Ladies: Every year as fall draws near, the notoriously erratic Indian Oscar committee takes the stage to select their nominee in a procedure as spectacular as any film from Bollywood.
The Film Federation of India (FFI), the committee’s powerful sponsor, assembled a special jury comprised of seasoned professionals from the film industry to select one picture to represent India this year.
Despite having the most active film industry in the world, the nation has a poor track record in the competition for international feature films, with several possibilities lost.
The Lunchbox
The most well-known example is “The Lunchbox” by Ritesh Batra, passed over in 2013 despite receiving high praise from critics.
When the international hit “RRR” was not selected as India’s Oscar contender in 2022, some people were quite suspicious.
Despite this, the FFI maintained its composure when Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” official submission made the foreign features shortlist.
“RRR” was a stand-alone submission that eventually won an Oscar for best original song.
However, this time,
All We Imagine as Light’s
“All We Imagine as Light’s” rejection—which came despite the fact that it was the first Indian film to be selected for the Cannes competition in thirty years and that the French Oscar committee had even shortlisted it—may create a new precedent.
Despite being a critically acclaimed film that made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023 and enjoyed a successful run at the Indian box office, Kiran Rao’s “Laapataa Ladies” (Lost Ladies) may come as a disappointment to some, particularly those who are not involved in the Indian film industry.
This is due to the recent enthusiasm and clamor surrounding “All We Imagine as Light,” which ended a 30-year Indian film industry curse, went on to win the Grand Jury Prize, and unexpectedly catapulted director Payal Kapadia from renowned documentary filmmaker to auteur status.
