India’s ‘Lost Ladies’ Team Talks Oscar Campaign Strategy, Netflix Success

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran India’s Oscar submission “Lost Ladies” (Laapataa Ladies) has found significant success on Netflix, and the film’s director Kiran Rao and Jyoti Deshpande, president of media and content business at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), are optimistic about their awards season prospects. “Lost Ladies” was chosen over Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “All We Imagine as Light” as India’s submission to the Oscars. “I’m delighted that I’m in the same breath as a film that’s won at Cannes,” said Rao. “I feel like film is highly subjective.

Clearly, the jury felt that our film was worthy and was unanimously chosen. And I do think that the film is really relevant in that it sparks conversations around themes that we feel very strongly about.” The film, produced by RIL content arm Jio Studios, Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Pictures, is set in 2001 in rural India, and follows two young brides wearing identical crimson veils who get swapped during a train ride to their husbands’ villages after their weddings.

It bowed at Toronto before enjoying a successful theatrical release in India. “While the film is very specific in its story… it’s also a very global story, because it speaks to women’s experiences everywhere,” Rao noted. “It’s about women’s freedoms, about women’s agency, about finding their own identity and purpose.” Deshpande highlighted the film’s cultural authenticity, explaining that it addresses women’s empowerment while remaining respectful of Indian traditions.