Indian Cinema And Its History At The Cannes Film Festival

You might think of Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai and Sonam Kapoor flaunting their unique outfits when you think of Cannes or you might think of cinemas from all over the world with a beautiful story to tell being featured on the silver screen. But it is much more than that. Cannes' history with India traces back to 1946. During May every year, stars from all across the world fly down to the French Riviera to attend the Festival de Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival is not only known for cinema but for its fashion too. Here, many different types of cultures converge and among them, India has made a mark. The world was in a lot of suffrage after World War II and people sought solace in art. Hence, in 1946, after a 6-year break due to the war, Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar beautifully portrays a story about the differences between the rich and the poor in a society. The movie featured Kamini Kaushal and Zohra Sehgal in lead roles. Neecha Nagar shared the Grand Prix award with David Lean's Brief Encounters and was the first Indian film to make it to Cannes and achieve global limelight.

Every year, around 20 films premier on the big screen and compete for the top Cannes prize, which is the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm). The winners of this award as well several other awards is chosen by a jury. Many big artists who have been excellent in the field of filmmaking, acting and more- like Robert De Niro, Cate Blanchett and Martin Scorsese have been a part of the jury over the years.

In the year 1954, Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin, featuring Balraj Sahni, won the Prix award and Pather Panchali was a turning point in Indian cinema which won the award in 1956. Bollywood made its Cannes debut in the year 2002 when they screened Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas and the next year, Aishwarya Rai became a jury member in Cannes being the first Indian woman to be so.

From then, there was a dramatic increase of Indian participation in Cannes. Vidya Balan, Nandita Das, Sharmila Tagore, Shekhar Kapur, Arundhati Roy, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have also served as jury members at the Cannes. Another major moment was when Amitabh Bachchan opened the festival with his cameo in The Great Gatsby in 2013. The Lunchbox won the Critics Week Viewers Choice awards and other films like Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shoutout were also showcased.

All though Cannes majorly makes headlines due to its fashion, it does bring art from all over the world and shows various kinds of films from mainstream spectacles to nuanced, independent films. In conclusion, the Cannes Film festival has served as a significant cultural and professional platform for Indian cinema over the decades.