Hyderabad: Indian cinephiles are on cloud nine with India bagging two prestigious awards at the Cannes Film Festival 2024, making the nation proud like never before. All We Imagine As Light created history by bagging the Grand Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival with Payal Kapadia being the first Indian film-maker to win this prestigious honour. Meanwhile, Anasuya Sengupta credited herself to being the first Indian actor to win the Best Actress award at the Cannes 2024 in Un Certain Regard.
In the midst of achieving such titular prizes at the Cannes, with Indian directors showcasing the power of independent cinema on a global platform, Bollywood actors Saba Azad and Tillotama Shome called out the industry for their lack of support, both financial and otherwise, towards independent movies.
Lust Stories 2 (2023) actor, Tilottoma Shome took to Instagram and spilled out some of the apparent truths about the Indian film industry, giving the audience a reality check about what it takes to fund, make, sponsor and take an independent film to Cannes.
The actor wrote, "I wanted to put some flowers out today, to celebrate the women from my country at Cannes. How did they get there? Ask them and you will weep. It is nothing short of a miracle for an Indian indie film with no institutional, financial or emotional support from the country, to make it this big. How were the films funded, how difficult was it complete the film in that budget, oh and how did the actors put together the money to fly to Cannes, so they could bring home the prize, that we are so proud of?"
Underlining the financial constraints, the actor also spoke of the patience and passion of the artists and how that would have never been lauded, if not for this prestigious award. The actor vouched for the 'no risk no gain policy' and urged the industry stalwarts to 'put some skin into this game, if we are feeling so proud' and go on to fund small-budget films.
Asking people to take a lesson from these two grand victories at the Cannes, she said: "Otherwise it's not pride, just shame for not believing in your own storytellers, until the world asks you to look at them. These women are filling the cracks and saving the building."
The acclaimed actor sought respect and pride for the storytellers of our country who dare to narrate their stories, and the experiences around them. In this era and age, it is indeed important to go 'vocal about the local' because the 'local is the new global' and one cannot hide the realities from the audience under the grab of high-end sets and costumes.
The less we appreciate our makers and directors, there are lesser chances of cultivating good stories as there are no alternatives to lived experiences. Like we all know, it is easier to make a bad film with a sky-high budget but tougher to make something meaningful out of it. Content is king and its high time the industry realises it!
Sisterhood is powerful, said Robin Morgan and so it is. Echoing the words of her colleague, Saba Azad, who often makes headlines for her relationship with superstar Hrithik Roshan, shared Tillotama's post and reverberated her belief.
Azad uploaded an Instagram Story, where she posted: "Fund good cinema, support independent filmmakers, support actors who give themselves wholly to the craft and aren't just in it for the frills - put your money behind real talent."
The actor also said that real talent might not mean the most famous or most familiar but she said that 'there is a kind of Indian cinema that deserves our attention and support and it's shining the world over!' 'Let's give it the respect it deserves, back home too," she added.
Actor, Producer Rahul Bhat also took to his Instagram Stories and took a dig at the Indian film fraternity by saying how it took a French producer and people from other countries to back All We Imagine As Light. Lashing out the industry and its box office driven structure, he said that if made in India, the makers would have first asked the director to change the title.
Sarcastically pointing out the hypocrisy, he admitted that credit would now go to the country and not the makers who literally struggled to take this film where it is now. He lauded the girls who dared to dream so big and wished them luck in life. He also said that Kapadia is showing the way and the nation definitely needs more female directors who can make us proud.
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