'US Distributor Needed': Gurmeet Amid Laapataa Ladies Nomination Debate

Gurneet Monga, the Oscar-winning producer of Elephant Whisperers, stressed in a recent interview the importance of having a US distributor for a film get nominated at the Academy Awards. It comes amid the debate on whether the Film Federation of India made a mistake by sending Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies as the official nomination for this year's Oscars. The discussion only intensified after the news broke out that 'Laapataa Ladies' was competing with Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light'. The film became the first Indian film in decades to be nominated in the official competition Category at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix Award.

ALSO READ: Did you know how many aspiring actors were auditioned before finalizing the cast of Kiran Rao's 'Laapataa Ladies'?

In an interview, Gurmeet said that FFI's biggest mistake is that, they send films they feel are the best in the lot instead of what has the chance to be nominated. She said, “I say this to everybody, if India has to choose a film for the Oscars, it’s very important that you have an American distributor. The more solid American distributor you have, the easier your journey there will be. We can do it on our own, of course. We can spend loads of money, hire publicists… It’s tough. Even Elephant Whisperers, I was there for over a month… I’m in awe of the big system that they’ve built there, the whole world shows up and puts their money, time, and energy into it.”  

Talking about Lagaan being the last film to be nominated, she said, “Because Sony Pictures Classics distributed it. We miss this point. To every person, and every journalist, I want to say, ‘Please send films that have US distributors’. Netflix was there on Period. End of Sentence, and Elephant Whisperers. They have the mechanism, they know the work… HBO came on board for Shaunak Sen’s film, All that Breathes, and they were running the campaign.” FFI responded to this debate, stating that 'All We Imagine As Light' felt more like a foreign film hence, they chose Laapataa Ladies.