India’s presence at the Cannes Film Festival has grown manifold in the last 30 years. Today, there could easily be 300 Indians on the French Riviera, including actors, directors and even some journalists. There is even an India Pavilion, which was first set up by Nina Lath Gupta from the NFDC.

India at Cannes

But sadly, India’s movie representation at the festival has been poor. It could be that we do not make cinema that caters to an international audience. Or, it just could be that for a Western mind, Indian cinema is too confusing. Or, it can also be that selectors who are supposed to promote and push films from our country have little understanding of what Cannes is looking for. Once, it seemed like a joke that Devdas from Bollywood was picked as part of the official selections. Later, the Cannes chief, Thierry Fremaux, did tell me – although not in so many words – that Devdas was a mistake.

Anyway, two Indian titles have made it to Cannes this year: Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light is vying for the top Palme d’Or and Sandhya Suri’s debut feature Santosh is in Un Certain Regard, the most important section after Competition. An Indian title arrives in Competition 30 years after Shaji N. Karun’s Malayalam work Swaham.

Also a matter of concern, Indian jurors at Cannes have been few and far between. In fact, between 1982, when respected auteur Mrinal Sen became the first Indian to serve on the main Competition jury, and 2022, when actress Deepika Padukone was picked for this slot, there have been a mere handful — director Mira Nair (1990), novelist Arundhati Roy (2000), actors Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan (2003), Nandita Das (2005) and Sharmila Tagore (2009), moviemaker Shekhar Kapur (2010) and actor Vidya Balan (2013).

Great Indian filmmakers ignored?

Sadly, giants of cinema like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli and Ritwik Ghatak were never invited to be on the jury. Even Satyajit Ray, who was an icon of India, was ignored by the Festival.

Why were these great auteurs never invited? It could be that Cannes is no longer a cerebral Festival as it once was, especially during Sen’s days. Today, there is far more glamour there than what we would like to imagine. Cannes has gravitated towards this glamour goal, which has been hugely promoted by big businesses. A cursory glance at the Cannes jury over the years, and we cannot miss the fact that members have all been global achievers who have come with a fair degree of glamour.

This year for the 77th edition of the Festival, there are international celebrities like Greta Gerwig (of Barbie fame who will chair the jury), moviemakers Nadine Labaki, Juan Antonio Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, Ebru Ceylan, and Kore-eda Hirokazu. They are undoubtedly exceptional filmmakers, but they also come with an aura of allure.

All said and done, Cannes may be liberally swathed in glamour, but the 12-day Festival — which runs from May 14 to 25 – also offers memorable movies that are hard to ignore or forget.