India’s ‘Lost Ladies’ Team Talks Oscar Campaign Strategy, Netflix Success
India’s Oscar submission “Lost Ladies” (Laapataa Ladies) has found significant success on Netflix, and the film’s director Kiran Rao and Jyoti Deshpande, president of media and content business at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), are optimistic about their awards season prospects.
“Lost Ladies” was chosen over Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “All We Imagine as Light” as India’s submission to the Oscars. “I’m delighted that I’m in the same breath as a film that’s won at Cannes,” said Rao. “I feel like film is highly subjective. Clearly, the jury felt that our film was worthy and was unanimously chosen. And I do think that the film is really relevant in that it sparks conversations around themes that we feel very strongly about.”
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The film, produced by RIL content arm Jio Studios, Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Pictures, is set in 2001 in rural India, and follows two young brides wearing identical crimson veils who get swapped during a train ride to their husbands’ villages after their weddings. It bowed at Toronto before enjoying a successful theatrical release in India.
“While the film is very specific in its story… it’s also a very global story, because it speaks to women’s experiences everywhere,” Rao noted. “It’s about women’s freedoms, about women’s agency, about finding their own identity and purpose.”
Deshpande highlighted the film’s cultural authenticity, explaining that it addresses women’s empowerment while remaining respectful of Indian traditions. “The protagonists in our film [are] finding themselves, which is why lost ladies metaphorically as well, without actually slamming men or bashing men who are part of the ecosystem. The women embrace their culture, but on their own terms, which is, which is more hopeful and inspiring and uplifting than telling the story in any other way,” she said.
The film’s Oscar campaign is being managed with a focused strategy. “We are hustling,” said Deshpande. “It’s a small film, and we’re backing it with as much capital as possible. But like all small films, the capital is not open ended, so we are careful about how we spend our money.” The team has enlisted Shelter PR, which handled their TIFF campaign, for the Academy push in the U.S. The U.K. campaign is being managed by Natasha Mudhar, founder of the global impact communications consultancy The World We Want. The campaign emphasizes physical screenings alongside the film’s Netflix availability.
Deshpande noted the film’s strong Netflix performance, though specific viewing figures weren’t disclosed. “It has smashed many records in terms of how long it has been on top three watched films for multiple weeks consecutively,” she said.
India has received only three nominations in the Oscars’ international feature category over 67 years, with no wins. Deshpande remains hopeful about their chances: “We’ve had many firsts this year. And I think if, if any film can do it, this film can do it, it talks about new India, talks about women empowerment,” Deshpande said. “It’s a film helmed by a woman filmmaker, a woman studio head, some amazing performances, some great music, which seems to have really resonated with audiences. So we just want to mobilize everyone, every Indian that’s rooting for us, as well as anyone who’s watched the film, to pay it forward. Talk about our film, tell as many people as possible and create that positive vibe.”
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