The Hindu Business Line : Catching the eye at Cannes

Although India did not field any films at the Cannes Film Festival this year, it made its presence felt at the Cannes Film Market, which attracted at least 7,000 delegates.

Although India did not field any films at the Cannes Film Festival this year, it made its presence felt at the Cannes Film Market, the biggest in the world. This year, the Market attracted at least 7,000 delegates. The large Indian film delegation was led by Pawan Chopra, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The CII stall, the official India Pavilion, was inaugurated by actress Aishwarya Rai, who came to Cannes as L'Oreal's representative. It was Devdas, in which she starred with Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, that started the Bollywood fever in Cannes two years ago.

The film was a big hit in countries such as the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Paris, noted for its penchant for India's art cinema, recently held a Bollywood Festival, showcasing films of 15 well-known directors and that turned out to be a big success. "Bollywood cinema has an important place in the international film scene and Cannes is the biggest exposure for us," said the I&B Deputy Secretary, V. Bishvajit Sahay.

"Cannes is the only market we attend, as it's a great place for inter-facing with foreign distributors," said Rajat Pitroda, consultant of CII's new entertainment section, which is headed by well-known film-maker Subhash Ghai. Ghai was in Cannes to market Kisna, his $7-million English-Hindi film made with an international cast. And for film-maker Bobby Bedi, it was the promotion of his Aamir Khan-starrer The Rising, that took him there. According to him, it is the `biggest' film made in India. "The international market is ready for Indian cinema," he said, and added that he is currentlyworking on five big films for international releases. "This is the first time we're taking part in the Cannes Market and that's because we have 35 films in production, and will be looking for international distributors," said Ashok Aggarwal of Sahara Manoranjan. Notable among these films are the Rs 30-crore Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose directed by Govind Nihalani, and Mother Teresa, shot in Kolkata and Rome. Penelope Cruz has a role in the film. "We like to call ourselves the Miramax of India," said Ramesh Mirchandani of UTV Films, speaking of the forthcoming release of their Rs 380-million film Lakshya, in London, New York, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Dubai. Sanjay Jumani of Sunstone Entertainment, who specialises in commercial grossers, said he has noticed a steady increase in the demand for Indian films during the four years he had participated in the Cannes Market, especially in countries such as Dubai, Malaysia and Singapore. Agreeing with him was international distributor Narendra Hirawat, who specialises in buying negatives of old and new Bollywood films, for satellite and TV releases abroad. Hirawat said he had big markets in the US, the UK and China.

According to NDFC's Mukhopadhyay, the corporation has brought a large clutch of films, and expected brisk sales from international distributors, as many of them have been screened at international film festivals. There was a flurry of English language films, including Bobby Bedi's American Daylight, as also Paris-based Vijay Singh's One Dollar Curry, Mumbai-based director Manu Rewal's Chai Pani Etc, Priya Singh Paul's Perfect Husband, Megna Reddy's Hush, not to mention Black Friday that has been selected for the prestigious Locarno Festival. Many of these were shot overseas, including Sunstone Entertainment's new film Hotmail.com, shot in Bangkok.

In fact, Bangkok seems to be attracting film-units from around the world, the most recent being Oliver Stone's magnum opus Alexander. This prompted the Tourist Authority of Thailand to throw a lavish party at the Majestic Hotel in Cannes not only to announce their Bangkok International Film Festival in January, but also to speak of Thailand's superior facilities for film shooting. The Dubai Tourism Board also threw a beach-party to announce their International Film Festival, which is in its second year.

Meanwhile, Neelam Kapoor stated that with Goa being the new venue for the international film festival, she expects it to become the Cannes of India, attracting both film-buffs and tourists. To prove the point, a `Goa Evening' was held at the lush Carlton Hotel Beach, to give one a taste of the beach resort's vibrant atmosphere.

While various festival programmers from around the world were hunting for Indian films, it was interesting to meet Los-Angeles-based Chandra Pandula, representing Ramoji Film City in the US, who was hunting for foreign film units to `shoot' in India. "My job is to get Hollywood producers to India," said Pandula, also adding that he was proud to promote India as a location film base overseas. He spoke of the Harvey Keitel film Beeper that was shot entirely in India.

The Cannes Market, he said, was an important place for him to meet top producers and location-hunters from around the world, though he admitted that it was tough and competitive. "While the whole world wants Bollywood to come to them, we should induce more international film units to shoot in India," said Pandula.

"After all, we have a stunning range of locations, facilities and cheap labour. Most important, everyone speaks English!" As for the facilities at Ramoji Film City, he described it proudly as "a One-stop shop. You come in with a script and fly back with a film!"

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