FFI’s Only Official Entry for Oscars Is Laapataa Ladies, Not Veer Savarkar

The president of the FFI clarified that the only official entry for the Oscars was Laapataa Ladies.

A post went viral stating that actor Randeep Hooda's Swatantrya Veer Savarkar was one of the official entries from India for the 2024 Academy Awards.

This is after the Film Federation of India (FFI) released a statement naming Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies as the official entry for the Oscars.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, the claim is false.

• India's official entry for the Academy Awards is Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies, as stated by the FFI president.

• The president added that Savarkar can be an independent entry but not the official one.

What we found: At first, we undertook a relevant keyword search and came across an Instagram post by the director of Savarkar, Sandip Singh.

• The post noted, "Honored and humbled! Our film Swatantrya Veer Savarkar has officially been submitted for the Oscars. Thank You FILM FEDERATION OF INDIA for this remarkable appreciation. This journey has been incredible, and we are immensely grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way (sic)."

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A post shared by SANDEEP SINGH (@officialsandipssingh)

• With the keyword search, we also came across a report by India Today which noted the sentiments of the president of the FFI, Ravi Kottarakara.

• Kottarakara told India Today that Laapataa Ladies was the official entry from India for the Oscars. He added that the formal registration is completed via FFI and Veer Savarkar was also presented, and the jury did observe it.

• The president said that even though it was a good movie, Laapataa Ladies was unanimously chosen by the jury.

• The report also noted that filmmakers can also independently submit their films to the Academy. However, it is unrelated to the federation.

• According to a report by the Indian Express, it noted how filmmakers have previously submitted their projects independently to the Academy.

• It mentioned that in 2022, Gujarati film "Last Film Show" was chosen as the official selection, however, SS Rajamouli's successful blockbuster RRR independently submitted for the Oscars and conducted a triumphant campaign, resulting in winning the best song award for Naatu Naatu.

• In the same year, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali also entered Gangubai Kathiawadi in all the major categories, such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and more, for the 95th Academy Awards.

Conclusion: A misleading claim went viral that Hooda's Savarkar was also an official entry as chosen by FFI for the 2024 Oscars.

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