India’s road to the Oscars has been a bumpy one. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on Wednesday unveiled its shortlist of films (10 categories) still in the running for the Oscars 2025. Sadly for India, The Kiran Rao directorial ‘Laapataaa Ladies‘, which was the country’s official entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category, was out of the race.
The film which beat out Payal Kapadia‘s ‘All We Imagine As Light‘ to be selected as India’s entry, sadly didn’t make the cut. However, another Hindi language film titled ‘Santosh’ found a spot in the ‘Best International Feature Film‘ category.
There among the 15 films that were shortlisted for the Oscars out of 85 total films submitted, was this Sandhya Suri directorial which was the United Kingdom’s official submission for the Academy Awards 2025. The movie also premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, and was well-received by critics.
SANTOSH | Official Trailer
The film’s official synopsis reads, “Ripped from her life of domesticity, Santosh, a young widow now desperate to support herself, accepts an opportunity to inherit her husband’s job as a police officer in the rural badlands of India. Quickly taken under the wing of Sharma, a charismatic and commanding older female inspector, Santosh begins an investigation into a low-caste girl’s brutal murder that plunges her into a gritty world of crime and corruption, forcing her to confront not only the brokenness of the system around her, but her own place within it.”
The film stars Shahana as the driven young Hindu widow who finds herself caught up in institutional corruption. The film also stars Sunita Rajwar as the rough-edged veteran detective Inspector Sharma, inspecting the brutal murder of a Dalit girl.
Reacting to this “little glory”, Shahana took to Instagram and expressed her happiness in a post that read, “So happy for the team especially our writer-director Sandhya Suri for this little glory of recognition for our film Santosh! How incredible to be shortlisted from amongst 85 films. Thank you to everyone who loved it, supported it and voted for it.”
The film’s production house also congratulated the team in a post that read, “Congrats to Sandhya Suri and the entire #Santosh team on making the shortlist for the 97th Academy Awards’ Best Int’l Feature category! SANTOSH opens NYC’s @IFCCenter Dec 27th! “
The films still in the running to score an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature are as follows:
‘Armand” from Norway
‘Dahomey’ from Senegal
‘Emilia Perez’ from France
‘Flow’ from Latvia
‘From Ground Zero’ from Palestine
‘The Girl With the Needle’ from Denmark
‘How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies’ from Thailand
‘I’m Still Here’ from Brazil
‘Kneecap’ from Ireland
‘Santosh’ from United Kingdom
‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ from Germany
‘Touch’ from Iceland
‘Universal Language’ from Canada
‘Waves’ from Czech Republic
'Vermiglio' from Italy
The list includes films that are officially eligible to compete in various categories. However, it does not guarantee that these films will advance to the final nominations for the Academy Awards.
Reacting to the news, Indian fans expressed their shock saying, “Lmao not only did LAPATAA LADIES not make it, but the other Hindi movie, Sandhya Suri’s SANTOSH did.”
Another said, “Laapata Ladies is not short listed for the best international feature by @TheAcademy but Sandhya Suri’s UK-backed Santosh has made the list.”
‘Laapataa Ladies’ selection as India’s official entry to the Oscars was mired in controversy. While the film won critical acclaim, many were of the opinion that the Payal Kapadia directorial ‘All We Imagine As Light’ would have been a better pick, considering its historic success at Cannes. The film was rejected by the selection committee as it allegedly ‘wasn’t Indian enough’. The film has since gone on to score Critics Choice Awards and even Golden Globe nominations.
Oscar voting to determine the nominees in all 23 categories will start on Wednesday, January 8, and it will end on Sunday, January 12. Nominations will be announced on Friday, January 17.