Why can(nes)'t we?

No Indian film has made it to the main competition section of the 60th annual Cannes film fest. Bhawna Gera tells more.

Another international film festival, another topic of debate. When we did not make it to the Oscars, our desi filmmakers pinned their hopes on the Cannes Film Festival, scheduled for May 16.

HT Image

And now the latest is that the jury thinks that no Indian film can be put in the Cannes Film Festival's main competition section (though there are seven films which will just be screened in the independent section).

Reason? Nobody knows for sure.

Ground realities

Film critics have already started work on the postmortem. Stale story ideas, poor technology and not enough variety. According to them, these are some of the reasons why Indian films are lagging behind. So what keeps us from being called 'world class' cinema.

Feels filmmaker Manmohan Shetty (Chairman and Managing Director of Adlabs Cinemas and industry veteran), "For any filmmaker what's really important is to make profit Films made for such festivals may get them noticed but does not always translate into good money. It's not for him to decide his audience, and market and then target it. Our main market is here."

Homeward bound

So, is all this ado about nothing? Do we really need these festivals?

While for some this global recognition is a big boost, not everyone is convinced. Points out former Censor Board chief and actor Anupam Kher, "I think their opinion is not important. Let them say what they are, we should keep doing what we want to."

Agrees Shetty "We don't need to change anything. We're making films for our people and should continue to do so. Just give Indians what they like."

So, let these festivals be best remembered for our celebs presence and other gimmickry.

Nothing more, nothing less.