India got another boost this year with renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur being named as part of the famed international jury.
India has two distinctions at the Cannes film festival this year so far. Shekhar Kapur has been selected on the feature film jury of the festival. His fellow jurors include Tim Burton (jury president), British actress Kate Beckinsale, and Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro.
The other is that city director Vikramaditya Motwane’s film Udaan (The Flight) has been selected by the festival.
The 63rd Cannes film festival is being held from May 12-23, 2010.
Udaan is Motwane’s debut feature film and part of the official selection of the festival.
“I’m very happy that my first film has been selected by the Cannes festival,” Motwane said. “I seriously could not imagine that something like this would happen. Christian Jeune, director of films, confirmed the news by email this morning.”
Udaan is the only Indian film in the official selection of the festival. But the other sections of the festival are yet to announce their selections.
Motwane, who is in his 30s, can be proud that his film is rubbing shoulders in the Un Certain Regard (A Certain Look) section, with the greats of world cinema — Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme (Godard is about 80) and Manoel de Oliveira’s Angelica (de Oliveira is over 90).
“It’s absolutely bizarre,” said the incredulous Motwane, who is still in his 30s. “I didn’t realise this at first. But then I saw the list and thought, ‘My god, yaar!’ It is very humbling.”
Udaan, co-produced by Anurag Kashyap, is a moving story of a young teenager, with a first-rate performance by newcomer Rajat Barmecha. He plays a teenager who is abused by his father who has remarried — and his relationship with his kid stepbrother.
Popular TV actors Ronit Roy and Ram Kapoor star in the film, along with theatre actor Anand Tiwari, who also acts in Sunil Shanbag’s play Dreams of Taleem. The film, set in Jamshedpur, Bihar, is a modern story of fragmented Indian families, and of teenage children parenting their parents.
“I will be going to Cannes with Anurag Kashyap, my wife, and my mother,” Motwane said. “But first there’s still so much post-production work to finish. I have to do the sound, the digital intermediate, the mixing and the sub-titling for the film. I won’t get much sleep at all.”
Motwane has an impressive CV. Curiously, he was twice involved with Devdas — first as a long-time assistant of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose Devdas was part of the official selection at Cannes in 2002. More recently, he co-wrote Kashyap’s Dev.D. He had earlier collaborated with Bhansali on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. According to imdb.com, he has also done the choreography for Deepa Mehta’s Water, co-written the screenplay for Vivek Agnihotri’s Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, directed songs for Kashyap’s Paanch, directed the short film Undisputed, and done the cinematography for Atul Sabharwal’s short film Midnight Lost and Found.
With so many very diverse talents, Motwane is clearly a man to watch out for.
Meenakshi Shedde is India consultant to the Berlin Film Festival and curator for international film festivals worldwide.
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