Missing Ladies actress Pratibha Ranta: We can’t stop celebrating | Exclusive
Missing Ladies actress Pratibha Ranta shares her joy and disbelief over the film winning an Oscar, talks about her journey from Shimla and inspiring young girls to take up acting.
Missing Ladies actress Pratibha Ranta expressed her disbelief and excitement after the film was announced as India’s official entry for Oscars 2025. “Oh my god, I really can’t believe that all this is happening right now,” she said. “It feels like we can’t stop celebrating Missing Ladies. There’s good news coming one after the other, and we are all thrilled.”
Reflecting on the casting process, Ranta revealed that finding the right actress for her character Jaya was no easy task. “When they had to find Jaya, it was a difficult time for them,” she explained. “When they saw me, they said, ‘Ah, this is my Jaya.’ I was very happy. My audition ended with Aamir sir and Kiran ma’am, and I felt everything had fallen into place.”
The first person Pratibha Ranta spoke to when she heard about the Lapata Ladies’ huge achievement was her sister. “The first person I told was my sister. We were screaming in the room. I was so full of energy that I didn’t know whether to do a cartwheel or a handstand. We had talked about the possibility of this moment during the shoot, but we never thought it would actually happen.”
Coming from Shimla, a small town with limited information, Ranta found the response from her hometown particularly touching.
“When I came back home after the release of Missing Ladies, I was walking on Mall Road and young girls were coming up to me and saying, ‘Didi, we liked your film very much.’ (We loved your movie) I could see myself in those girls because I was young when I started dreaming about acting.”
She recalled how the girls expressed curiosity about Mumbai and the acting industry, asking her questions like, “How is Bombay (Mumbai)? Can we come too?” Ranta added, “It’s a very humbling feeling to see that curiosity in their eyes. When they tell me they want to become actors, I feel very happy.”
Co-produced by Aamir Khan, Missing Ladies gained attention for its unique storyline. Also starring Nitanshi Goyal, Sparsh Srivastava and Ravi Kishan, Missing Ladies centres around two newly-wed brides and their journey.