Mumbai Film Festival: Where is honourable Catherine Deneuve?

Catherine Deneuve who was conferred the lifetime achievement award has seemed off from day one of the 16th Mumbai Film Festival. What was being brushed off as jet lag in the beginning has now left everyone wondering about what's making the legend so reclusive, cut-off and even crabby. This got particularly underlined when she did not turn up at a party thrown in her honour by the French consulate on Thursday night, leaving an embarrassed French team fobbing questions on the guest of honour from other guests.

It began with her speech in reply to the award at the festival inaugural where she said, "Lifetime achievement is a strong word and comes with the feeling of moving on. But I wish to be here and around for many more years to come." She refused pose for stills or speak to the large media contingent which had waited hours for her.

If that came across as a bit off, this was further accentuated on the day of the master class where the septuagenarian diva with an enviable body of work seemed far from amused about being made to share the stage with a relatively young and inexperienced Deepika Padukone and the questions from Anupama Chopra, who was moderating the discussion. She asked for every single camera both video and still to be removed from the venue and then went on to disagree with almost everything that Chopra said even when the latter quoted from her responses in earlier interviews in the international media. "Lets not go by that. I think the media just goes and writes what it wants."

Deneuve even cut short Padukone tersely when the Bollywood box office sensation tried to talk about wanting to consider film production minus the financial responsibility. "Producers no longer take financial calls. These are now taken by banks and corporates who provide the funding," she educated Padukone. While this indicated how well she was clued into the nuts and bolts of show-biz, it was also delivered in a tone of finality, which discouraged any rejoinders from both the other women on stage.

She brushed off a question on the late Hollywood legend Greta Garbo saying she was no recluse. "She probably couldn't come to terms with the failure of her last film. And maybe she could afford to retire because she had made her money." Soon after the class Denevue trooped off complaining how "hot and uncomfortable" the place was, to her entourage. When festival creative director Anupama Chopra, who was moderating the session was approached to find out about Deneuve's whereabouts, she told dna, "I don't know. She has not even given me a one-on-one interview."

The legend has been conspicuous by her absence - even at her own films which are being showcased as special retrospective - since then leading to several red faces both in the festival organisers and the French team. Festival director Srinivas Narayan tried to downplay this. "Deneuve said she was excited with the crowd's response. So I don't know why she chose to stay away. Unifrance or the French consulate should know."

When dna spoke to director general Adjoint, Unifrance Films, Xavier Lardoux, he went to great lengths to explain that Deneuve was not unhappy with the festival or Mumbai. "We are talking to one of France's tallest acting legends. That she agreed to accept this honour indicates how happy she is. She has been to Delhi, Kolkata, before but this is her first visit to Mumbai. On Thursday, she had gone to south Mumbai, the four hours spent in the traffic back and forth tired her out. This is why she couldn't make it to the party in her honour."

The India representative Valerie-Anne Christen, was more forthcoming saying that asking an artiste of the greatness of Deneuve to share space with someone else may have hurt her. "Please understand this would happen if a Meryl Streep was here too."