What Two Acclaimed Female-Directed Movies Say About Indian Cinema

One is a deft comedy about the misadventures of two young brides in rural India. The other is a delicate tale about the intersecting lives of three women in cosmopolitan Mumbai.

And both films might have a shot at winning Academy Awards — a rare prospect for a country that produces more than 1,000 movies a year but has found the topmost industry honors hard to come by.

With small budgets and unconventional plots, “Laapataa Ladies” and “All We Imagine as Light” have captivated audiences. That both were directed by women and have female-centric themes has become an additional point of pride in India, where the frothy romps of male-dominated Bollywood dominate the cinematic landscape.

Directed by Kiran Rao, “Laapataa Ladies” — renamed “Lost Ladies” for its Oscar campaign — has had a hugely successful run in the domestic market since its March release, and is now streaming on Netflix.

“All We Imagine as Light,” directed by Payal Kapadia, won the Grand Prix at Cannes in May. It was released in Indian theaters this month, and opened on Nov. 15 in New York and Los Angeles.

In a review of the movie for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis called it a “quiet drama about fragility, beauty and kinship” that is “flat-out wonderful, one of finest of the year.”