Following the excitement around Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies being selected as India’s official submission for the 2025 Oscars, it has now been revealed that Randeep Hooda’s Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is also in the running for consideration at the 97th Academy Awards.
On September 24, 2024, Randeep Hooda, Ankita Lokhande, and producer Sandip Singh took to social media to share some thrilling news. They unveiled a poster for the biopic Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, accompanied by a caption that read, “Honoured 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. #WhoKilledHisStory.” The post also featured a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Randeep posing with the clapboard and the production team.
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Fans quickly expressed their enthusiasm in the comments section. One fan exclaimed, “Damn!!!! Congratulations to the entire SVS team,” while another wrote, “This film totally deserves an Oscar!” A third fan added, “Finally getting its due,” with many others praising the film’s submission as a “deserving entry.”
In a recent episode of the BeerBiceps podcast, Hooda discussed the personal sacrifices he made to bring the project to life. The actor-turned-director revealed that he used his own resources, including selling properties in Mumbai that his father had purchased for him, to fund the film’s production. “We faced financial challenges. My father had saved up and bought two or three properties for me in Mumbai. I let go of them and put the money into the movie. I couldn’t stop. This film didn’t have anybody’s support,” Hooda shared.
Swatantrya Veer Savarkar marks Hooda’s directorial debut and tells the story of Indian freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. In the film, Ankita Lokhande plays Savarkar’s wife Yamuna Bai, and Amit Sial also stars. The movie, released in Hindi and Marathi on March 22, is currently available for streaming on Zee5.
As Laapataa Ladies and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar compete for nominations at the 2025 Oscars, fans are eagerly awaiting to see if these films will make a mark on the global stage.
