Gowns, parties, paparazzi, the red carpet...
…Oh, and there are films too at Cannes but you would hardly know it judging by the media coverage.
It’s all so wannabe and pathetic, laments VIKRAM JOHRI. Pix: Makers of Chauthi Koot receiving a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival 2015 (taken from the film~s Facebook page).
Cannes is one of the world’s biggest cinema festivals. Held every year in the beachside town after which it takes its name, the festival is first among equals on a list that includes Sundance, Venice and Toronto. The awards handed out at the festival, such as the Palme d’Or, Grand Prix, Prix du Jury and others, have become benchmarks by which the films of the year are measured.
The 68th edition of the film festival is currently taking place but going by the news reports in the Indian media, it would appear that it is merely a fashion spectacle. Like every year, this year too, a slew of Bollywood beauties have descended on Cannes, including Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif and Sonam Kapoor.
What they wore on the red carpet as they shimmied and sashayed as part of their brand promotions has been discussed ad infinitum. (Rai, who has been a Cannes regular thanks to her association with French cosmetics giant L’Oreal, has gone through multiple rounds of applause and derision over the years over her choice of dresses.) Supplements in the major national dailies like the Times of India and the Hindustan Times and online outlets have been running detailed stories on who wore what, who kissed whom, who hung out with whom. It is all so wannabe one can only imagine that Bollywood has a serious inferiority complex.
And so, there has been near unanimous appraisal of the fashion quotient of our leading ladies. There is almost no coverage of the films in competition at Cannes - a great travesty considering Cannes showcases some of the best cinema of the upcoming season.
Here is a sample: Carol stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara and is a lesbian love story set in the 1960s. Directed by Todd Haynes, it has received rave reviews and is widely tipped to be another Oscar vehicle for Blanchett after she netted one for her bravura performance in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.
Gus Van Sant presents his new film, Sea of Trees, starring Matthew McConaughey and Naomi Watts, about a man who visits Japan to end his life. The movie was not received well, a disheartening prospect for Van Sant whose 2003 drama, Elephant, based on the Columbine high school massacre, won the Palme d’Or.
Nanni Moretti, the Italian director whose gut-wrenching The Son’s Room detailed the devastating effects of a boy’s death on his family, is in Cannes with Mia Madre, another meditation on death and its effects on those who are left behind.
The film that I am anticipating the most and one that has created the most buzz is The Lobster by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos about a futuristic society in which uncoupled people are given a 45-day deadline to find a partner or risk being transformed into an animal (go figure!). The film stars Collin Farrell and Rachel Weisz.
This is only a brief sampling of the riches in store at Cannes. None of these films have received a wide release as of now, so avid film watchers will track the movies playing at the festival to get a sense of the films that will make headlines come next year’s award season. But following news reports back home makes one feel as though Cannes was little more than a fashion extravaganza.
When the Indian media does take any interest in the festival beyond the sartorial, it is to talk about the few Indian films that are screened there. This year, two films, Chauthi Koot and Masaan are being showcased in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival. (In fact, Masaan was screened on May 19 and received a huge round of applause, a fact that did make it to news outlets back home.)
Chauthi Koot is directed by Gurvinder Singh whose Annhe Ghode Da Daan – about the battle between farmers and landlords in rural Punjab - was one of 2011’s best films. Chauthi Koot is set against the backdrop of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Masaan, by Neeraj Ghaywan, is set in Varanasi and stars Richa Chaddha. Not much is known about the film’s plot.
Why have these films received only the most cursory mention in the Indian media? Neither film is a Bollywood product, which might explain the poor coverage. The fact that both Chauthi Koot and Masaan are joint Indo-European projects also points to how the system works. Access is key when it comes to international film festivals, one reason a number of deserving films from back home never make it beyond Indian shores.
At any rate, Bollywood - and consequently the Bollywood press - have long maintained a schizoid attitude towards international film festivals. There are all festivals on the one hand and then there is the Oscars. Not only is that ceremony streamed live, but nearly every media outlet discusses the winners and nominees in dedicated columns.
Why is this so? Even as Bollywood decries the Oscars, there is no gainsaying that every time an Indian film has breached the glass ceiling, it has been feted lavishly back home. So, on the one hand, a Mother India or a Lagaan is able to rise above the din by being both commercially viable and cinematically superior.
On the other hand, few films that come out of the Hindi film industry match the standards of international cinema. So we have a situation where only a few indie players, led by the maverick Anurag Kashyap, have made festivals like Cannes their port of call, while for others, it is merely a place to network, if that.
While the workings of Bollywood may seem beyond comprehension, why must the media align itself with such a mercurial stance and not adopt a sturdier attitude towards reportage of film festivals abroad is worth questioning.
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