Not Indian Enough? FFI President Reveals Why All We Imagine As Light Didn't Make Oscars 2025 Cut

Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has been picked as India's official entry for Oscars 2025. The Film Federation of India shortlisted the rural India set, light-hearted satire unanimously from 28 other movies that were sent for consideration. Among those submitted was Cannes winner All We Imagine As Light, directed by Payal Kapadia. While the selection of Laapataa Ladies has been met with a positive response, the snubbing of All We Imagine As Light invited criticism, given its big win at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.

Now, FFI president Ravi Kottarakara has shed light on why Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light was not picked as India's official entry for the 97th Academy Awards.

Why was All We Imagine As Light not picked for Oscars?

Kottarakara told The Hollywood Reporter, “The jury said that they were watching a European film taking place in India, not an Indian film taking place in India.”

According to Kottarakara, the “Indian-ness” of Laapataa Ladies stems from its central plot, which tells the story of two brides who accidentally swap husbands during a train ride. The two women end up switching partners when one of their husbands mistakes the other woman for his wife, thanks to the fact that both are wearing a ghoonghat, or veil, concealing their identities, the website shared.

FFI at the center of controversy

FFI has also been criticised for the 13-member selection committee comprising only of male members. Additionally, its statement announcing its choice as Laapataa Ladies was also pulled up. “Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance,” read the first line, which invited immense scrutiny and was labelled “sexist”.

On this, Laapataa Ladies screenwriter Sneha Desai  told PTI, "I think the citation is not a clear indication of what the entire association or the jury stands for. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt … Yes, they could have been a little [more] careful, but I wouldn’t want to read too much into it.”