Cannes 2019: Prasoon Joshi: We Need Greater Creative Presence In Cannes
The worry gnawing Indians attending the 72nd Cannes Film Festival is the nation's absence in the event's official selection.
News
oi-Swikriti Srivastava
By Pti
The
worry
gnawing
Indians
attending
the
72nd
Cannes
Film
Festival
is
the
nation's
absence
in
the
event's
official
selection.
That
is
the
broad
drift
of
the
pronouncements
being
made
in
India
Pavilion
on
the
French
Riviera,
where
filmmakers
from
the
world's
most
populous
nation
gather
to
explore
wider
avenues.
Two
men
who
have
seen
better
times
in
Cannes
Delhi-based
producer
Bobby
Bedi
and
Malayali
filmmaker
Shaji
N
Karun
are
among
those
who
are
making
the
trip
to
the
French
Riviera
this
year.
Twenty-five
years
ago,
in
1994,
both
Bedi
and
Shaji
had
a
film
each
playing
on
the
Croisette.
Bedi
has
already
arrived
in
Cannes;
Shaji
is
expected
to
fly
in
on
Friday
along
with
two
Mumbai
filmmakers,
Rahul
Rawail
and
Madhur
Bhandarkar,
to
complete
the
Indian
delegation
here
led
by
Amit
Khare
in
his
official
capacity
as
the
information
and
broadcasting
secretary.
While
Shaji's
"Swaham" was
in
the
main
Competition
in
1994
that
was
the
last
time
India
had
a
film
in
the
running
for
the
festival's
Palme
d'Or
Shekhar
Kapur's
"Bandit
Queen",
produced
by
Bedi,
was
in
the
Directors'
Fortnight
programme.
In
the
quarter
century
that
has
passed
since
then,
India's
presence
in
the
festival
has
been
at
best
patchy
despite
the
nation's
thriving
movie
industry
growing
significantly
in
terms
of
numbers.
Quality,
however,
has
remained
under
a
cloud.
Lyricist
and
Central
Board
of
Film
Certification
(CBFC)
chief
Prasoon
Joshi
admits
that
India
requires
far
greater
"creative
presence"
in
the
Cannes
Film
Festival.
"Business
efforts
are
definitely
needed,
networking
is
also
required
but
nothing
could
be
better
than
greater
creative
participation
in
the
festival,"
he
said
while
addressing
a
session
in
the
India
Pavilion
here.
He
began
his
talk
by
emphasising
the
feeling
that
the
Pavilion
in
the
Cannes
Film
Festival
serves
as
"a
home
away
from
home"
for
Indian
movie
industry
professionals
who
attend
the
event.
"The
first
thing
I
did
on
getting
here
was
order
a
masala
chai,"
Joshi
said.
"I
suggest
that
everybody
should
order
one.
Masala
chai
sums
up
the
spirit
of
the
India
Pavilion."
Younger
Indian
filmmakers
such
as
Rima
Das,
here
for
the
fourth
year
in
a
row,
credit
the
Cannes
Film
Festival
with
exposing
them
to
the
wider
world
of
cinema.
"Cannes
has
been
a
great
teacher.
I
have
learnt
a
great
deal
here
as
a
filmmaker,"
she
said.
Masala
chai
might
give
Das
and
her
ilk
a
high
like
it
invariably
does
no
matter
who
imbibes
brew,
but
nothing
can
compensate
for
the
global
openings
that
a
festival
such
as
this
offers.
Most
Indian
filmmakers,
especially
those
working
in
the
regional
movie-making
centres,
which
have
in
recent
times
delivered
some
strikingly
good
cinema,
need
to
appreciate
the
advantages
of
cracking
Cannes
open
for
their
works.