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Indian wares on Cannes sale
Indian gamut was wide indeed, but when will Indian film find an authentic place, asks Saibal Chatterjee.
In terms of films in the official selection of the 58th Cannes Film Festival, India is zilch. But that hasn't stopped an array of Indian movie personalities from descending on the Crosette in the first few days of an event that, with an accreditation list of as many as 4000 journalists from around the world, comes second only to the Olympic Games and the soccer World Cup in respect of media coverage.
So, what are the Indians here really up to? Aishwarya Rai, in Cannes for the fourth year on the trot, did what she is best at - shimmy up the red carpet to the Theatre Grand Lumiere in an outlandish outfit on the festival's opening night. What's more, the organisers let her join American filmmaker Alexander Payne in declaring the 58th edition of the Cannes Film Festival open.
Not a mean feat at all for a star, who is still known around the globe more for her face than her work. The fact that she is a brand ambassador of L'Oreal, one of the official sponsors of the Cannes Film Festival, surely helps. She flew in for just two days from London, where she is currently shooting for Jag Mundhra's Provoked.
Even as the Indian contingent in Cannes awaited the arrival of the Censor Board-defying Mallika Sherawat, the chairperson of the CBFC, the ever-graceful Sharmila Tagore, spent three days on the Riviera.
She first weighed in with her presence at the screening of an Academy-restored print of Pather Panchali in the Cannes Classics section and then put in an appearance at a yacht party thrown by Hollywood film producer Ashok Amritraj to celebrate Satyajit Ray's legacy. Inexplicably, this is the veteran actress's first trip to Cannes. "That's just a coincidence," she says.
Interestingly, for jury member Nandita Das, too, Cannes is a "first-time experience". "From never ever having been here before to being on the Cannes jury is a jump indeed," she quips.
The amiable Amritraj, an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has been appointed by Hollywood's apex body to represent it at all Satyajit Ray events that are held over the next year. He used the visit to Cannes to announce the formation of the international division of his Los Angeles-based production company, Hyde Park, and a slate of three productions.
Producer-director Subhash Ghai, another Cannes regular, is busy pushing the English-language version of Kisna, now titled Beyond Love. Having organised as many as four screenings of the 95-minute film in the market, he is hoping to find buyers around the globe. "The film has been cut down from its original 165-minute length in response to the needs of international distribution," says the showman.
Also in Cannes is Akbar Khan, the writer, director and producer of Taj Mahal, for a special market screening of his magnum opus. "We have already found international buyers for the film," he announces. "We are now on the verge of closing the deals."
Producer Bobby Bedi is screening two of his films - The Rising and American Daylight -- in the market, while Praveen Nischol of Entertainment One is here with the Salman Khan-starrer Marigold and Prakash Jha's off-mainstream Apaharan.
That apart, the Cannes Film Market has agencies like Eros Entertainment and Sunstone Entertainment peddling a bagful of sex-and-sleaze flicks, conventional Bollywood films and a handful of NRI products. On the other hand, Sunil Doshi of 'Handmade Films' is hoping to find takers for Santosh Sivan's Navarasa, a low-budget film that features a real-life transvestite in a pivotal role.
The Indian gamut in Cannes - from Ash on the red carpet to a film about a cross-dresser in rural Tamil Nadu - is wide indeed. But when, pray, will Indian cinema find an authentic place in the Riviera sun?
