Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS): Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, whose home production ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has been submitted as India’s official entry to the Oscars, has expressed his gratitude to the selection committee of the Film Federation of India for their decision.

The actor issued a statement thanking the members of the committee, and shared that he is proud of the director of the film, and his ex-wife Kiran Rao.

He said in a statement, “We are all so happy with the news. I am so proud of Kiran and her entire team. I would like to thank the selection committee of the Film Federation of India, which chose our film to represent India at the Oscars”.

The film was picked as the official submission on Monday for the upcoming 97th edition of the Academy Awards.

The actor further mentioned, “My heartfelt gratitude to our audience, our media, and the entire film fraternity, for all the love and support they have given ‘Laapataa Ladies’. Thanks to both Jio and Netflix who have been great partners to work with. I am so happy that all our hard-work has paid off. Thank you everyone. Here’s hoping that 'Laapataa Ladies' is able to win the hearts of the members of the Academy”.

This is not the first time for an Aamir Khan Productions film has been picked by the Film Federation of India for the Oscars. Earlier, his films like ‘Taare Zameen Par’, ‘Peepli Live’ and ‘Lagaan’ have been India’s official entries to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category with ‘Lagaan’ even securing a seat in the final nominations. However, the film didn’t win 74th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film, as it lost out to the Bosnian film ‘No Man's Land’ which was directed by Danis Tanovic.