'Laapataa Ladies' screenwriter on controversial FFI Oscar citation: Would like to give them benefit of doubt

New Delhi: Laapataa Ladies screenwriter Sneha Desai says she wouldn't like to "read too much" into the Film Federation of India (FFI)'s citation for choosing the film as India's official entry to Oscars 2025 as it could have been drafted by anyone.

The 13-member all-male jury of FFI, the body which selects India's entry in the international film category every year, drew ridicule online for their citation for the Kiran Rao directorial. Many on social media said the brief went against the message the film was trying to convey.

The citation by FFI read: "Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world, a Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way."

Desai, who wrote the gently subversive feminist drama set in rural India in early 2000s, is happy the film will represent the country on the world stage despite there being no woman member on the jury.

"I think the citation is not a clear indication of what the entire association or the jury stands for. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt because it could have been drafted by anyone else as well. Yes, they could have been a little careful but I wouldn't want to read too much into it.

"And, for not having any woman member on the jury is a call I don't know how they would have taken or the higher powers would have decided. Despite that Laapataa Ladies making it, is again a wonderful thing," the debutante film writer told PTI in an interview.

Desai, known for her work on TV shows such as Pushpa Impossible and Wagle Ki Duniya, wrote the screenplay and dialogues of Laapataa Ladies which is based on a story by Biplab Goswami. Divyanidhi Sharma has written additional dialogues.

The writer said the cast and crew have been inundated with calls and messages ever since the news of the film being picked as India's entry to the 97th Academy Awards broke.

"We are extremely elated... It's just a very gratifying and wonderful feeling," she said.

The Hindi film, about two brides getting swapped on the day of their wedding during a train ride in 2001, was chosen from a list of 29 films, including Bollywood hit Animal, Malayalam National Award winner Aattam and Cannes winner All We Imagine As Light.

Laapataa Ladies, Desai said, had a lot of aspects in the right place.

"It has a nice, subtle messaging. It is a refreshing change of flavour from the normal films that we have been seeing off late. There's a sense of honesty to the narrative. The effort looks extremely sincere and the film is very simple and yet profound in a way. All of this is packaged into one neat product that makes for a great entry to the Oscars," she said.

"The most wonderful thing that has worked in favour of Laapataa Ladies is the instant identification and resonance it has had with people. People have loved the characters and they have made them their own, they have laughed with them, cried with them. That identification has had a deep-rooted connection with the audience," she added.

The film, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), released in theatres on March 1 to great reviews. It is backed by Rao's Kindling Productions, Aamir Khan Productions, and Jio Studios (Jyoti Deshpande).

Desai said the idea was to not be preachy and yet address the issues at hand with the most sincere and immediate effect.

"The kind of problems, society, and landscape that was shown in Laapataa Ladies was so real, raw and rugged that people felt that instant connect and the reason why we were able to do that was also some flawless direction and acting by the cast."

The fact that the majority of the cast comprised newer faces like Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastav helped the film feel more relatable with the audience, she added.

"A lot of these faces were unknown so people didn't have any preconceived notions, they didn't come with any kind of baggage, controversies or the usual gloss that is associated with film stars. That made it very easy for people to, in a way, just be peeping into a household and being related to the problems that were going on." Desai also credited Laapataa Ladies for giving her "a great shot in the arm" as a debutante writer.

"A lot of industry insiders are sitting up and taking notice. There have been feelers, calls and meetings happening with a lot of production houses. They finally have a face attached to the name of a newcomer. It is, hopefully, going to open up wonderful avenues for me and I'm looking forward to telling some great stories through them," she said.

Two of her films -- a Phantom Studios romance drama with Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor and a movie with Aamir Khan Productions -- are slated to be released next year.