Kiran Rao reveals fresh cast for Laapataa Ladies ‘worked in our favour’: People fully immerse themselves in the film | Bollywood FilmyMeet

Filmmaker Kiran Rao, whose film Laapataa Ladies was recently selected as India’s entry for the Oscars 2025, has opened up about how she integrated the “everyday struggles women face at different stages of their lives into the story”. Speaking with India Today, Kiran also talked about choosing a fresh cast for the film. (Also Read | Explained: Laapataa Ladies or Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, which is India’s ‘official’ entry for Oscars 2025?)

Kiran on film’s theme, cast

Kiran said, “We felt that keeping the story rooted and organic would make it far more believable and enjoyable. I think that’s one of the key reasons the audience responded so well to it. With a completely fresh cast, people didn’t recognise the actors, allowing them to forget and fully immerse themselves in the world of the film. That worked in our favour.”

Kiran on expressing story via humour

“We put a lot of thought into how to integrate the everyday struggles women face at different stages of their lives into the story. But we wanted to do it through humour because no one wants a lecture when they go to the cinema. I genuinely believe humour is one of the best ways to tackle some of the most uncomfortable issues. The premise itself—a mix-up of two women on a train due to their ghunghats (veils)—was so absurd, it naturally lent itself to comedy,” she added.

About Laapataa Ladies

Laapataa Ladies has been produced by Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures, and Jio Studios. It released in theatres on March 1, 2024. The film starred newcomers Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, alongside Ravi Kishan and Chhaya Kadam.

Kiran recently expressed her gratitude

Recently, Kiran expressed her gratitude for recognising her piece of hard work and giving her a chance to make her film reach a global audience. “I am very happy. I was not expecting an Oscar entry as many good films have been made this year. Now we will have a chance to show this film to a much larger audience. I would like to thank the audience for giving so much love to this film. I think there is something for everyone in this film,” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.