Essay: Each in Quest of one’s Own Destiny: The Story of Two ‘Laapata Ladies’- Originally written in Odia by Abhiram Biswal and translated by Himansu Mohapatra
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Academic, critic, and translator Himansu Mohapatra translates a powerful essay originally written in Odia by Abhiram Biswal and published in Sambad on 3 October 2024 that captures the essence of the recent Hindi movie Laapata Ladies.
The Hindi movie Laapata Ladies is at the centre of considerable attention nowadays. The reason is easy to guess; the movie has been named India’s official entry for the Oscars 2025. It was widely expected that the Payal Kapadia movie All We Imagine as Light would represent India. But the jury, headed by the acclaimed director Jahnu Barua, surprised the cognoscenti by settling for Laapata Ladies instead. Of course, Laapata Ladies is also distinguished by having a woman for a director, Kiran Rao.
Hindi movies that have received nominations for the Oscars in the past include Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay (1988), and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan (2001). It is worth mentioning here that India has seen in the past few years the spectacular rise of a galaxy of supremely talented women directors. The list, which is merely indicative and not exhaustive, would include Sai Paranjape, Deepa Mehta, Aparna Sen, Kalpana Lazmi, Nandita Das, Tanuja Chandra, Gauri Shinde, Meghna Gulzar and Zoya Akhtar.
