“When I heard the story, it really felt very personal to me because I’ve seen so many women who have not had the agency, the choice that I’ve had in my life to do as I please,” Rao said at a special screening of ‘Lost Ladies’.

New York: India’s official entry to the Oscars ‘Laapataa Ladies‘, now rechristened ‘Lost Ladies’, is a “very important” film that talks about women’s freedoms and agency, financial independence, “ability to imagine your own futures” and male allyship, its producers Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan said.

“When I heard the story, it really felt very personal to me because I’ve seen so many women who have not had the agency, the choice that I’ve had in my life to do as I please,” Rao said at a special screening of ‘Lost Ladies’ here.

“It felt like an amazing story to be able to talk about women’s freedoms, financial independence, ability to imagine your own futures,” which is a luxury for most women in very traditional societies, she added.

Rao, the film’s director, said the movie gave her the chance to use a “comedy of errors” to actually examine deeply entrenched patriarchy.

Rao, Khan and Jio Studios President – Chairman’s Office, Media and Entertainment Jyoti Deshpande are currently travelling across the US, headlining special screenings and interacting with audiences here about their movie which is India’s official entry to Oscars 2025.

The film has been produced by Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures and Jio Studios.

After screenings and discussions in New York, the team is now in Los Angeles as the Oscars Shortlists will be announced on December 17 and the nominations announcement coming on January 17. The 97th Oscars will take place on March 2, 2025.

Speaking at the special screening hosted by fashion designer Prabal Gurung in downtown Manhattan, Khan recalled that he “just loved the script” when he first read it at a script competition where he was part of the jury.

The script “touched me. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It was very entertaining. It was also saying such important things.”

Khan underlined that while the film is about women’s agency, “it’s also high time that men also kind of contribute to that. It also does that in a sense. I feel it’s a very important film.” Khan added that as the team began working on the script, “I realised there are so many different aspects to it, and male allyship is one very important aspect, which I think is important in life in any case.” “I think women should help men and the other way around. Men should help women… I just see it as human being. It’s so odd that if someone is getting such an unfair deal, how can you just stand by and watch it? It feels strange. So, I’m so glad that the film really showcases that as well as such an important part of moving on, moving ahead,” he said.

Responding to a question on how ‘Lost Ladies’ reflects her vision both for Indian cinema and global storytelling, Deshpande said it’s a “shining beacon” of the company’s vision and mission of ‘Make in India and Show the world’.

“Of all the stories that we’ve told, Lost Ladies is a shining example of what we want to do, take quintessentially Indian stories and celebrate India, Indian culture and Indian voice with the world,” Deshpande said at the screening organised by Product of Culture, a women of colour founded agency, media platform and community dedicated to amplifying South Asians.

Khan, whose movie ‘Lagaan’ was nominated for the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2002, expressed hope that ‘Lost Ladies’ connects with the audience in a “deep way, in a way that really makes you feel fulfilled, nice and warm inside and affects you. And so far, I think people have liked it, and they have connected rather deeply with the film.”

Voicing appreciation for the way Rao has made the film, Khan said, “Each film has its own journey and each film has its own voice. Ultimately, as filmmakers, it’s our film till the day it’s released and then it belongs to the audience.”

Rao said the film was made to “spark conversations. I hope it continues to do that. I hope it makes people be kind to one another, to go out and give all the women in their lives a big hug, to hold each other up, to support each other.”

On what the audiences should take away from the film, Deshpande replied, “It’s a big-hearted film with a very big, profound message without being preachy. I just hope that they love the film enough to tell other people that they love the film and to go watch it.”

A new poster of the film has been unveiled with its English title “Lost Ladies” as the movie begins its campaign for the upcoming awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

The movie follows the story of two brides named Phool and Jaya who accidentally get swapped during a train journey. It stars Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta in the lead. It also stars Sparsh Shrivastava, Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam and Geeta Aggarwal Sharma.