‘Laapataa Ladies’, and the legacy of Aamir Khan Productions with India’s official Oscar submissions

Mumbai, Sep 23: The Kiran Rao directorial ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has been selected as India’s official entry for the upcoming edition of the Academy Awards. It has become the third film from Aamir Khan’s production house, Aamir Khan Productions to have been submitted as India’s official entry by the Film Federation of India.

It all started with the Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Lagaan’ which was not just sent as India’s official entry to the Oscars but also secured a place in the final nominations. The film, which is an epic period musical sports drama, was written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards, and became the third Indian film to be nominated in the category after ‘Mother India’, and ‘Salaam Bombay’.

‘Lagaan’ brought forth a new wave of talents and style of filmmaking. It was one of the earlier Bollywood movies to use the sync-sound, dedicated departments, and manpower to each of the departments making the filmmaking process streamlined and a lot more productive. The film’s crew of assistant directors included directors who have become big names today including Reema Kagti, Apoorva Lakhia and Kiran Rao. It was during the making of the film Aamir got in touch with Kiran, and over the years, they grew close.

However, the film didn’t win 74th Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film, and lost out to the Bosnian film ‘No Man's Land’ which was directed by Danis Tanovic. It was after Lagaan’s loss at the Oscars that Aamir completely lost his faith in awards, and stopped attending any award ceremony following his heartbreak and disappointment.

Then came ‘Taare Zameen Par’, which marked Aamir’s directorial debut. The film, a psychological drama, told the story of a dyslexic kid who is taken under the wings by Aamir’s character of Ram Shankar Nikumbh, an art teacher as the latter realises his true potential. The film was selected as India's entry to the foreign language category for Oscars at the 81st annual Academy awards. Interestingly, the film was in contention with ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, who earlier directed ‘Lagaan’ as the Film Federation of India made its decision.

‘Laapataa Ladies’ completes full circle for Aamir Khan Productions as Kiran, who was the assistant director on the production house’s debut venture, is now set to take the flight with her film on the Canvas of the Oscars with a potential nomination, and perhaps a chance at winning the Oscar, a feat that ‘Lagaan’ fell short at during the final nomination.