Laapataa Ladies Out Of Oscars Race

Laapataa Ladies, India's official entry in the Best International Feature category at the 97th Academy Awards, is out of the Oscars race.

The Hindi film, directed by Kiran Rao, is not part of the shortlist of 15 features that will be vying for a spot in the final five, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Wednesday morning.

However, British-Indian film-maker Sandhya Suri's Santosh, starring Indian actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, representing the UK, has made it to list that also includes France's Emilia Pérez, I'm Still Here (Brazil), Universal Language (Canada), Waves (Czech Republic), The Girl with the Needle (Denmark), and The Seed of the Sacred Fig from Germany.

The other contenders in the category are Touch (Iceland), Kneecap (Ireland), Vermiglio (Italy), Flow" (Latvia), Armand (Norway), From Ground Zero (Palestine), Dahomey (Senegal), and How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies (Thailand).

The final Oscar nominations will be announced on January 17.

According to the Academy, 85 countries or regions had submitted films that were eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 97th Academy Awards.

Santosh, which marks Suri's feature directorial debut, revolves around a newly widowed housewife (Goswami) who inherits her late husband's job as a police constable and becomes embroiled in the investigation of a young girl's murder.

In September, the Film Federation of India unanimously chose Laapataa Ladies as India's official entry to the Oscars from a list of 29 films, including Bollywood hit Animal, Malayalam National Award winner Aattam and Cannes winner All We Imagine As Light.

At the time, the 13-member all-male FFI jury courted controversy on social media for their citation about the film. Many on social media said the brief went against the message the film was trying to convey.

The citation by the federation read: ;Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world, a Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way.'

Besides Santosh, Anuja is another film with an Indian connect that has advanced to the next stage of the Oscars. It is one of the 15 films to be selected in the Live Action Short category.

The New Delhi-set short film follows a gifted nine-year-old Anuja, who must make a choice between education and factory work alongside her sister -- a decision that will shape both their futures. It stars Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag.

Anuja is directed by Adam J Graves and Suchitra Mattai, and has two-time Oscar winning producer Guneet Monga on board as executive producer and Hollywood star-writer Mindy Kaling as producer.

Lagaan, set in the pre-independence era, was the last Indian film to enter the top five nominations in the best international feature film category (formerly called best foreign film) at Oscars 2002.

Only two other films have previously made it to the final five and they are the Nargis-starrer Mother India and Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!

Late night host and comedian Conan O'Brien will host the Academy Awards on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles.