Cannes 2024: Which Was First Indian Film To Win Palme d'Or? A Look At B-Town's Journey To Iconic Film Festival

Cannes 2024: Two Indian films have been selected to screen at 77th Cannes Film Festival. And, Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' marks to be the first film to compete for Palm d'Or at Cannes in 30 years. Such a proud moment made fans wonder which was the first Indian film to have won Palme d'Or. The Indian films started competing in Cannes since 1946. It's almost been 80 years now and Indian cinema still makes a powerful impact worldwide. From Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali to Nandita Das' Manto, we have seen a variety of Indian films competing at the biggest French film festival. As we wait for the upcoming event let us take a look at the first Indian film that won Palme d'Or.

WHICH WAS THE FIRST INDIAN FILM TO WIN PALME D'OR AT CANNES FILM FESTIVAL?

Indian cinema entered at Cannes for the first time in 1946 and that was the time when it bagged itself an award. Chetan Anand's "Neecha Nagar" was nominated for Palme d'Or and the movie surprisingly won the award as well. The movie was released on September 29, 1946 and was produced by Chetan and Rashid Anwar. Featuring Uma Anand, Kamini Kaushal, Rafiq Anwar, and Zohra Sehgal in the lead role, the movie surrounded around a wealthy sarkar who faced protest by poor villagers over his evil plans. "Neecha Nagar" remains to be the only film that won Palme d'Or award until now.

HOW MANY INDIAN FILMS HAVE WON AWARDS AT CANNES?

"Neecha Nagar" remains to be the only film that won Palme d'Or award but there are a bunch of other Indian films that have won other awards presented at the event. Bimal Roy's "Do Bigha Zamin" became the first movie to win International Prize at Cannes. For other three consecutive years, Indian cinema managed to get themselves an award at Cannes.

Until now, 18 awards has been won by Indian movies and 2 awards are won by directors and cinematographers at the biggest film festival.