No show of Bollywood films at Cannes

Bollywood might be jazzing up the red carpet at Cannes every year,  but barring just two exceptions, Bollywood has never been awarded  in the official sections of Cannes film festival. It was in 1946 that India competed and won an award at the main competition section of the festival with the Chetan Anand film, Neecha Nagar.

Apart from Neecha Nagar, Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan (released as a mainstream film in India later) made a cut at the Prix Un Certain Regard section that recognises young talent. 

It is also regarded as an official section of the festival. Before Udaan, the only Indian film to be selected as an official section at the Cannes was Murli Nair’s Arimpara (2003), which actually is a Malayalam film and not from Bollywood.

“Most mainstream films that claim to have been at Cannes are never official selections. Most of them pay to hold a screening for a select group of people there. It’s more of a marketing exercise,” says filmmaker Subhash Ghai, a frequent visitor at the festival.

Adds filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, “It’s a long debate as to why Indian films don’t make it to Cannes. Our style of telling stories is entirely different from the sensibilities of the jury there. Unless we figure out a way to make and distribute films for an international market, we won’t be able to make films for these festivals. But I feel that Indian films are slowly getting there.”