India’s ‘Lost Ladies’ Launches Oscars Campaign After Netflix Success

India’s Oscar applicationLost Ladies” (Laapataa Ladies) was a major success on Netflix and the film’s director Kiran Rao And Jyoti DeshpandeThe head of Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) media and content division is optimistic about the awards season prospects.

“Lost Ladies” Selected over Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “All We Imagine as Light” as India’s presentation Oscars. “I am very happy to be in the same breath with a film that won an award at Cannes,” Rao said. “I think the movie is extremely subjective. Frankly, the jury thought our film was valuable and it was selected unanimously. “And I think the film is really relevant in the sense that it opens up discussions around themes that we feel very strongly about.”

Produced by RIL content arm Jio Studios, Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Pictures, the film is set in rural India in 2001 and tells the story of two young brides who wear identical red veils during a train journey to their husbands’ villages after their wedding. . It bowed in Toronto before enjoying a successful theatrical release in India.

“While the story of the film is very specific… it is also a very global story because it touches on the experiences of women everywhere,” Rao said. “This is about women’s freedom, women’s agency, finding their own identity and purpose.”

Deshpande emphasized the cultural authenticity of the film and explained that the film touches on women empowerment while remaining respectful of Indian traditions. “The heroes of our movie find themselves, so they metaphorically find the lost women without hitting or attacking the men who are actually part of the ecosystem. “Women are embracing their own culture, but on their own terms, which is more hopeful, inspiring and uplifting than telling the story another way,” she said.

The film’s Oscar campaign is managed with a focused strategy. “We are rushing,” Deshpande said. “This is a small film and we are backing it with as much capital as possible. But like all small films, capital is short-lived, so we are careful how we spend our money.” The team chose Shelter PR, which handled the TIFF campaign for its Academy move in the US. The UK campaign is led by Natasha Mudhar, founder of global impact communications consultancy The World We Want. The campaign highlights physical screenings as well as the film’s availability on Netflix.

Deshpande noted the film’s strong Netflix performance, but specific viewing figures were not disclosed. “It broke a lot of records in terms of how long it was between the top three most-watched movies in a row for several weeks,” he said.

In 67 years, India has been nominated in the Oscars’ international feature category only three times and has never won. Deshpande remains hopeful about their chances: “We achieved many firsts this year. And I think if any movie can do that, this movie can too; it’s talking about the new India, it’s talking about women empowerment,” said Deshpande. “This is a movie directed by a woman filmmaker, a woman studio head, with great performances, great music, and it seems to have really resonated with the audience. So we’ve got everyone supporting us. We want to mobilize every Indian and everyone who watches the movie to pay it forward, talk about our movie, tell as many people as possible and create positive vibes.”