BENGALURU: One of the most prestigious film fiestas across the globe, the Cannes Film Festival, is round the corner. The festival will be held from May 17 to May 28. Many Indian actors have attended the festival over the years but this year holds special significance for India.
For the unversed, this year India has been chosen as the first official ‘Country of Honour’ ever at the Marche’ Du Film’, organised alongside the Cannes Film Festival, in France. This is coinciding with India’s 75th year of independence.
A galaxy of Indian actors such as Deepika Padukone, Nayanthara, Pooja Hegde, Aditi Rao Hydari, Tamannaah Bhatia, Hina Khan and Helly Shah are attending the Cannes this year.
While Nayanthara, Pooja, Aditi Rao Hydari, Tamannaah, Hina and Helly Shah are set to walk the red carpet, Deepika is a part of the eight-member jury.
Moreover, six Indian movies of different languages will be screened at the French Riviera event.
1) ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’: Fronted by R Madhavan, the movie is based on the life of Nambi Narayanan, a former scientist and aerospace engineer of the Indian Space Research Organisation, who was falsely accused of espionage. It will be the first Indian movie to be showcased at the 2022 Cannes festival.
2) ‘Godavari’: Directed by Nikhil Mahajan, this Marathi movie, set in Nashik, is the story of a family that is coping with the deaths of two close relatives. It stars Neena Kulkarni, Jitendra Joshi and Vikram Gokhale in lead roles.
3) ‘Niraye Thathakalulla Maram’: This Malayalam-language film, directed by Jayaraj, follows the story of an eight-year-old boy, Poonjan, who does small chores to take care of his family consisting of a drunkard father, grandfather and great grandfather.
4) ‘Alpha Beta Gamma’: Shot in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this movie is about a woman who is locked in a house with her soon-to-be ex-husband and about-to-be husband. This Hindi-language rom-com is directed by Shankar Srikumar.
5) ‘Boomba Ride’: This Assamese movie is a satire on corruption in India’s education system in rural areas. Directed by Biswajeet Bora, the story is about a school which has only one student named ‘Boomba’. The movie is shot on the banks of the river Brahmaputra in Assam.
6) ‘Dhuin’: This movie is helmed by Achal Mishra, who had earlier directed the 2019 film ‘Gamak Ghar’, and tells the story of a small-town artist who aspires to become a big star one day.
Each year the best movie, chosen by the jury, screened at Cannes is given the prestigious award Palme d’Or. Chetan Anand’s ‘Neecha Nagar’ is the only Indian movie to date to bag this honour.