Click to play videoCannes (France): Shattering the age-old impression that Indian cinema is just about song-and-dance musicals, cinephiles from across the world will get a chance to sample an interesting selection of Indian films at the 60th International Film Festival of Cannes.
Seven films in various Indian languages will be screened in the ‘Cinema of the World’ section on May 19 and 20.
Malayalam film Saira, Tamil film Veyil, Bengali film Dosar and English film Missed Call are part of this package on Indian cinema along with art-house Hindi film Dharm and popular Bollywood hits Lage Raho Munnabhai and Guru.
For the makers of the smaller films, especially – who cannot afford expensive marketing campaigns – the opportunity to screen at Cannes means a possible interest from international buyers.
In the Cannes Film Market, meanwhile, more than 60 Indian film entertainment companies are expected to participate, pitching as many as a 100 new Indian films to international distributors.
Production and distribution giant UTV will market their epic Mughal romance Jodha-Akbar at the Film Market along with the John Abraham football film Goal.
iDream Productions will act as sales agent for the Indo-US film Karma, Confessions and Holi starring Sushmita Sen and Naomi Campbell, while Bobby Bedi's Kaleidoscope Entertainment is expected to unveil plans for their ambitious Mahabharata trilogy which Mani Ratnam is likely to direct.
Bollywood glamour this year will be provided by Aishwarya Rai and Preity Zinta who will walk the red carpet at the opening ceremony as brand ambassadors for L'oreal and Chopard respectively.
Later in the week, Amitabh Bachchan and Paresh Rawal are expected to attend the market screening of Cheeni Kum, while John Abraham and Bipasha Basu will participate in a media-and-sales presentation for UTV's Goal.
The bonafide Bollywood presence, however, will come from Irrfan Khan's appearance on the red carpet at the world premiere of A Mighty Heart, the film based on the memoir of Mariane Pearl, widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.
Once again no Indian film has made it to the competition section, but perhaps consolation can be derived from the fact that SRFTI student Raka Dutta's graduating film Chinese Whispers will compete in the festival's Cinefondation section for short films.
So, while we can expect a dash of Bollywood glamour on the red carpet at Cannes, its only perhaps young students of cinema who we can count on to bring us national glory. The big boys are clearly here to make money and party.
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