Mumbai, December 18 (UITV) – Kiran Rao-directed film Missing Ladies, which was India’s official entry, is out of the Oscar 2025 race. The film, which was out of the race for the 97th Academy Awards, could not even make it to the final 15 films to make its place in the Best International Feature category. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the film’s exit.
Missing Ladies is a film based on a rural background, which was released in theaters on March 1. The film received positive responses from both critics and audiences. The film was presented by Jio Studios and directed by Kiran Rao. The film was produced by Aamir Khan and Jyoti Deshpande. The script of Missing Ladies was written by Biplab Goswami, while Divyanidhi Sharma additionally wrote the dialogues.
However, the film could not be included in the final selection despite being nominated for the Oscars from India. Three other Indian films, Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988) and Lagaan (2001) have been nominated in this category before, but none of these films won an Oscar award.
The list of films making it to the Oscar race this time also includes British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s film Santosh, which will represent Britain. Apart from this, the films selected in the final 15 films include films like I’m Still Here (Brazil), Universal Language (Canada), Emilia Perez (Denmark), The Girl with the Needle (Denmark), Waves (Czech Republic), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany), Touch (Iceland), Kneecap (Ireland), Vermiglio (Italy), Flow (Latvia), Armand (Norway), From Ground Zero (Palestine), Dahomey (Senegal) and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Thailand).
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The Oscars will be announced on January 17, while the Oscars ceremony will be held on March 2.
Despite the failure of Missing Ladies, the film was an important step for the Indian film industry and its direction and story were appreciated. Kiran Rao’s film shows a new direction for the Indian film industry, where rural issues and the complexities of female characters were highlighted on screen.
Although the film’s exit is disappointing, it played an important role in further increasing the international recognition of Indian cinema. In the future, other films from India may also join the Oscar race and the influence of Indian cinema can increase around the world.
