Kiran Rao's directorial Laapataa Ladies had been chosen as India's official entry in the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards.
However, on December 17, it was announced that the film was not in the shortlist. After the news broke, filmmaker Hansal Mehta and Grammy-winning singer Rickey Kej trolled the Film Federation of India on social media.
The day ran into the night, but Hansal did not mind since he had his X to post. He shared late at night the shortlist for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards and remarked, sarcastically in the caption, "Film Federation of India does it again! Their strike rate and choice of films year after year are impeccable."
Apart from him, Rickey Kej also trolled FFI and said, "So, the @TheAcademy Oscars shortlist is out. #LaapataaLadies is a very well-made, entertaining movie (I enjoyed it), but was absolutely the wrong choice to represent India for the best #InternationalFeatureFilm category. As expected, it lost."
"Unfortunately we live in a "Mainstream Bollywood" bubble, where we cannot look beyond films that we ourselves find entertaining. Instead, we should just look for good films made by filmmakers who are uncompromising in their art. low budget or big budget. star or no star. just great artistic cinema," he added. Meanwhile, fans are hoping that Cannes winner "All We Imagine As Light" will get significant recognition in Oscar 2025.
Read also| 'The White Lotus' Season Three Set to Premiere on HBO in February
Read also| Jim Carrey complains about ‘Sonic 3’: Twice the work for same pay
