It is known that 'Laapataa Ladies' (Hindi) is the Indian entry for the Best International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards. In the citation written by the Film Federation of India, a problematic line was seen.
"Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance," the citation's first sentence reads.
The view expressed by the FFI in selecting 'Laapataa Ladies' has triggered a major social media outrage. Netizens believe that the language is sexist to the core. "It was probably written by someone with no idea of what he was doing. The FFI panel that reviewed the Indian films for Oscar entry was full of men. Not a single woman was there in the panel," a Netizen lamented.
"If your opening line is 'Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance' then perhaps it's time to pause and consider whether you should be making this argument at all," wrote columnist Gayle Sequeira.
Then there are those who are in agreement with the sentence. "The reference is correct. India is simultaneously a patriarchy and a longhouse," Indian Tintin opined.
'Laapataa Ladies', directed by Kiran Rao, was co-produced by actor Aamir Khan.
