Giving her unbridled reaction to Laapataa Ladies being India’s official entry to the Oscars, Sneha, who has written the screenplay and dialogue of the film, says, “We are all absolutely elated. Very, very grateful. And we are extremely humbled by the kind of warmth and outpouring of love that we are seeing since last day and a half.”
She continues to explain how this big honour for her debut film makes it more special. Sneha says, “It’s my debut film, which has gone this far. While I was writing it, we knew that we had something very solid on our hands. We knew that as writers, as crew members, as technicians, all of us were being able to connect to what we had on our hands, but little did we know that this small film of ours would go on to get so much of love and adulation.”
Sneha admits that the whole Oscars situation feels surreal. She says, “Our film is India’s entry to the Oscars, it’s surreal. It’s a little unbelievable. It’s spelled out beautifully for me as well, because, in an industry, which is mostly star driven, a lot of industry insiders have started taking notice of me. I’ve been getting congratulatory calls and messages from a lot of wonderful production houses. They are trying to associate a face to the name that they’re not used to hearing. So as a debutante writer, it’s a dream come true.”
Last time a film produced by Aamir Khan went to the Oscars, there was a massive international campaign that spoke about the heartfelt project. That was Lagaan and Laapataa Ladies has the merit of having the same producer. Sneha reveals, “I think now the ball is in the production’s court. I’m sure they will have a set of protocols that they will need to follow for it. All of us are right now on the periphery, just cheering. I’m sure Kiran ma’am, Aamir sir, the production house, the team at Jio, they’re all working out a campaign. A lot of it will become relevant once we make it to the long list and the short list of the Academy Awards. It’s now up to the Oscars. We will wait to see what destiny unfolds.”
Surprisingly, Sneha admits that she didn’t have dreams of being on the Oscars stage. She dreamt of being somewhere more local but just as illustrious. Sneha reveals, “First of all, writing was never on my radar. I have never ever consciously wanted to become a writer. Film writer toh bahut duur ki baat hai. I was very happy writing regional theatre. I have a lot of Gujarati plays to my credit. I was also an actor. I’ve got more than 2000 shows to my credit. After that, a career in television writing happened organically. I was perfectly happy doing television. Achanak se film ki offer aayi and I started dabbling in it. So it has been a stroke of wonderful good luck, if I may say so. If I say that I dreamt of an Oscar at some point in life, it would be completely wrong. But, I must admit, the dream of winning a Filmfare was something very obvious. Since childhood, we’ve been witness to so many Filmfare ceremonies over the years.”
Sneha further admits, “Filmfare is the glossiest and most star-studded event that we consume as Indians. So, someday… winning a Filmfare award would have been great, but dreaming of Oscars… woh bohot zyada lambi udaan ho jati hai.”
Sneha insists that Laapataa Ladies is a small film with a big heart. She adds, “The kind of huge splash that it has made, is just so gratifying and the kind of adulation feels like a huge bear hug from the audience.”
Ever since news broke out that the FFI (Film Federation Of India) had shortlisted Laapataa Ladies as India’s official entry to the Oscars from a list of 28 other films, there’s been a tsunami of reactions on social media. While some have argued about the FFI press release’s choice of words to describe the film, others have objected about the FFI jury not having any women as part of it’s jury to select films. Steering clear of any of these controversies, Sneha asserts that she doesn’t want to comment. She simply says, “I really don’t want to comment on it. It has been the higher powers that have decided it. Laapataa Ladies has made it to the list, I certainly wouldn’t want to doubt them.”
If the film does make it to the final list of foreign films that will compete at the Academy Awards next year, comparisons to Aamir Khan’s Lagaan will be inevitable. Sneha clarifies, “It is too early to say anything because we don’t know whether we’re going to make it to the final five like Lagaan did.”
Sneha further explains, “Lagaan was of course a blockbuster and the kind of adulation it got, the kind of money it got was in a very different league from what Laapataa Ladies is in. The best part is that we’re in wonderful hands, experienced hands. They know what it takes to make it to the top five, the kind of the PR that is needed. They know what kind of agents are required for this job. They walk the walk, they’ve talked the talk. So if at all Laapataa Ladies progresses to round two, I can say that we are in the finest hands possible.”
Before she heads into a new round of meetings for her next project, she signs off on a hopeful note. Sneha says, “We’re extremely hopeful. The Oscars is a big competition, we don’t know. We know we have something very, very endearing and heartwarming, and if it finds resonance on the international circuit, it will be the best.”