Bollywood
actress
Vidya
Balan
and
Life
of
Pi
director
Ang
Lee
are
part
of
the
prestigious
66th
Cannes
Film
Festival's
nine-member
jury,
headed
by
Hollywood
director
Steven
Spielberg.
Balan
(35),
one
of
the
most
respected
performers
in
India,
is
best
known
for
her
path-breaking
roles
in
films
like
The
Dirty
Picture,
Kahaani
and
Parineeta.
The
other
big
names
joining
Spielberg
are
Oscar-winning
actress
Nicole
Kidman,
Oscar-winner
Christophe
Waltz,
Japanese
director
Naomi
Kawase,
Scottish
director
Lynne
Ramsay,
French
actor-director
Daniel
Auteuil
and
Romanian
director
Cristian
Mungiu.
The
jury
will
award
the
coveted
Palme
d'Or
prize
to
one
of
the
19
films
in
competition
at
this
year's
festival,
which
runs
from
May
15
to
26.
"Vidya
Balan
on
cannes
jury...
awesome...," director
Anurag
Kashyap
tweeted.
Director
Shekhar
Kapur
and
actress
Sharmila
Tagore
have
previously
been
a
part
of
Cannes
jury.
Cannes
has
invited
India
this
year
to
celebrate
100
years
of
country's
cinema.
Apart
from
Balan,
actress
Nandita
Das
is
also
a
part
of
a
separate
jury
for
short
films.
The
festival
will
open
on
May
15
with
The
Great
Gatsby,
which
also
has
megastar
Amitabh
Bachchan
in
a
cameo.
The
actor
will
be
attending
the
opening
ceremony
while
the
festival
has
extended
a
special
invite
to
his
daughter-in-law
Aishwarya
Rai,
a
regular
at
Cannes'
red
carpet.
This
year,
four
Indian
films
have
been
selected
in
different
non-competition
categories
at
Cannes.
Bombay
Talkies,
an
anthology
film
by
four
directors
--Kashyap,
Dibakar
Banerjee,
Zoya
Akhtar
and
Karan
Johar
-
will
have
a
gala
screening
at
the
festival.
Kashyap
will
also
be
screening
his
Ugly
in
festival's
Directors'
Fortnight
sidebar
where
he
earlier
showcased
his
two-part
revenge
drama
Gangs
of
Wasseypur.
Dabba
(Lunchbox)
and
Monsoon
Shootout,
co-produced
by
Kashyap,
have
been
selected
for
Cannes
Critics
Week
and
Midnight
Screening
sections,
respectively.
PTI