Indian impact at Cannes

The Indian presence at the 65th Cannes Film Festival seems to have extended to beyond the glamorous faces of actresses Freida Pinto, Sonam Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat so far, with the filmmakers collectively making a bigger impact than they could boast of, in the previous years.

Apart from the increase in the number of the Indian films being screened at the festival, what’s also interesting is the bonding between the filmmakers there, as they root not only for their films, but also films of their peers.

According to sources, the filmmakers seemed to be presenting a united front as far as Indian films are concerned, as they bonded together. Among the films that are getting noticed at the festival are Anurag Kashyap’s two part Gangs of Wasseypur (selected for the Directors' Fortnight), and his production Vasan Bala's Peddlers (selected for the Cannes Critics Week).

And Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely (nominated in the Un Certain Regard section). There’s also buzz about Bengali filmmaker Suman Mukhopadhyay’s films Herbert, Chaturanga and Mahanagar@Kolktata and Nila Madhab Panda’s Jalpari-The Desert Mermaid, among others. 

Filmmaker Onir and actor-producer Sanjay Suri, along with Anurag, were seen bonding over panel discussions as well. A source says, “The strong presence of Indie films at the Cannes is an encouraging sign for sure. The buyers are showing more interest and Indians are becoming more regularly recognised faces too.”

Meanwhile, there’s much excitement about actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan walking the red carpet on May 24 and 25th.

“She is one of the most famous Indian faces globally and being a Cannes regular, she is one of the most looked forward to names internationally. This time there’s even more speculation about her red carpet outing, as she doesn’t seem to have shed the post baby weight, but her stardom might just overshadow that aspect,” adds an insider.