Is there something marvellous about making it to the Cannes red carpet? Yes, there is! An international film festival of the highest repute, where filmmakers from around the world come together; popular actors don the most glamorous outfits and sashay down the red carpet; there are screenings and discussions about good cinema, and the networking done there leads to brilliant collaborations later. Definitely, there would be some merit to the filmmaker or actor who made it to the Riviera. But why does it feel like, especially when it comes to Indians on the Cannes red carpet, or any international event, that it is more about what they wear or how they carried off a certain look or what kind of make up they wore?
Echoing Reese Witherspoon who, at the 2015 Oscars, asked the media to ask her more, wouldn't these women, too, want to be written about on what they were doing at a certain event than for how they looked? Moreover, this year at the Cannes, didn't it look like the western media was putting Indian actors on a pedestal with all those superlatives? Honestly, did Aishwarya in that blue gown look that nice? Or did Deepika going braless in that dress really stun people? Were they really at the festival to promote a film?
On the other hand, Nandita Das, who attended the festival on the merit of being Manto's director, actually looked fabulous in a golden Anavila Mishra sari, but the media has conveniently underplayed her. Was it because she didn't choose a Cinderella-esque gown, a Grecian number or wear over-the-top jewellery?
Moving on, why didn't Indian films make it to the Cannes screenings this year? Angamaly Diaries, a Malayalam film, got screened at the festival, but all it got was a cursory mention in the media. Over the last decade, the only four Indian movies that were screened in the competitive category were Vikramaditya Motwane's Udaan (2010), Kanu Behl's Titli (2014), Gurvinder Singh's Chauthi Koot (2015) and Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan (2015). This year easily could have seen entries like Aligarh, Sairat or Pink.
However, things weren't that bad in the past. Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar won the festival's then-top prize, Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, in 1946. Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin won the International Prize in 1954. Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali won the Best Human Document Palme d'Or at Cannes 1956. Even in the 70s and 80s, films from the Indian industry made it to the festival. Mrinal Sen’s tragic drama, Kharij won the Special Jury Prize at the 1983 Cannes festival. And in 1988, Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay won Camera d’Or and the Audience Award at the festival.
So, when there clearly is no dearth of brilliant minds and films in our industry, why are actors being lauded for walking the red carpet in designer outfits, much like a glorified fashion show? All woke up and took notice when Shabana Azmi tweeted a picture of her and Smita Patil from 1976 in simple handloom saris with director Shyam Benegal for Nishant's official selection to the festival. In her words, 'Film was important, not the clothes.'
