Laapataa Ladies at Oscars 2025: Kiran Rao reveals THESE two actors predicted getting selected for Academy Awards, ‘They felt it in their gut…’ [Exclusive]

Laapataa Ladies director Kiran Rao is ecstatic after her comedy of errors got selected is India's official entry for Oscars 2025. Speaking exclusively to BollywoodLife, she expressed joy and called the honour a moment of immense pride. Read on.

All that everyone has been talking about right now is Laapataa Ladies. The film, directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Aamir Khan Productions and Jio Studios, has been selected as India’s official; entry for Oscars 2025 and that has sent a wave of excitement amongst the film cast and crew, the fraternity and entertainment enthusiast. Kiran Rao is feeling proud as she enjoys every moment while the feeling sinks in. Talking exclusively to Smrity Sharma at BollywoodLife, Kiran Rao shared her feeling, plans for celebration and the road ahead, and revealed which of her two actors from the film had rightly predicted that Laapataa Ladies will get selected for Oscars 2025. Here's an excerpt from the conversation.

There was word doing the rounds that Laapataa Ladies may get selected for Oscars 2025? But did the announcement take you by surprise?

Kiran Rao: Absolutely! The official entry from India for the Oscars came as a wonderful surprise. It’s an honour and a moment of immense pride, not just for the cast and crew but for everyone who worked on Laapataa Ladies, including Aamir Khan Productions, Jio Studios. This recognition is truly heartening.

Had you, Aamir Khan, or anyone else in the team predicted that Laapataa Ladies may make the cut?

Kiran Rao: Honestly, we were all hopeful but there were such good films in the mix. When the announcement came through, it felt surreal. It was only Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan who kept saying that they feel it in their gut that this would be a reality. Of course, Aamir, Jyoti (Deshpande) and the whole team are thrilled, but I don’t think anyone expected it to happen this way.

While Oscars 2025 are still a few months away, the selection calls for a celebration. What are the plans?

Kiran Rao: Right now the plan is to get cracking on putting the best foot forward! There will be small celebrations with the cast and crew, but the real celebration will be putting in the work to ensure the film reaches as wide an audience as possible. It’s a collective journey, and we’ll all be working hard toward the months ahead.

Festive season is just around the corner, will this news make Diwali brighter and sweeter?

Kiran Rao: This news has certainly added a special touch to the festive season! Diwali is all about light and joy, and this year feels even more meaningful with Laapataa Ladies being recognized in this manner.

Here's a video of Kiran Rao

Laapataa Ladies is a social satire where two brides get exchanged on a train and end up amongst strangers. The film stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Srivastava, Ravi Kishan, Durgesh Kumar, Chhaya Kadam, Geeta Aggarwal Sharma amongst others. Laapataa Ladies raced ahead of 28 Indian films to becomes India’s official entry for Oscars 2025. It left behind six Tamil films, four Malayalam films, three Marathi films and an Odia film. The list of some of the strongest contenders include films like Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, Chiyaan Vikram's Thangalaan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan’s Kalki 2898 AD, Prasanth Varma's HanuMan, Kill, Srikanth, Kartik Aaryan’s Chandu Champion, Manoj Bajpayee’s Joram, Ajay Devgn's Maidaan, Vicky Kaushal's Sam Bahadur, Randeep Hooda's Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, Yami Gautam Dhar's Article 370 and more.