Mumbai: Cannes may be one of the biggest cinema festivals in the world, but according to Anurag Kashyap, the Indian obsession around it has gone somewhere else completely. In a recent interview with Sucharita Tyagi at the Cannes Film Festival, the filmmaker got brutally honest about how Bollywood and Indian celebrities often treat Cannes more like a red carpet event than a celebration of cinema.
During the conversation, Sucharita pointed out the irony and said that Anurag Kashyap himself had walked the red carpet, but “kisi ko kaano kaan khabar tak nahi hai.” Anurag, in his usual dry humour, laughed it off and said, “Hum log side se chale jaate hain.”
But the joke quickly turned into a sharper observation. Anurag said that walking the red carpet is actually the least important part of Cannes. For him, the festival is about films, filmmakers, conversations, discovery and cinema from across the world. The glamour, the outfits and the cameras may dominate headlines back home, but that is not what Cannes was built for.
He further said that he does not think people are really coming there for cinema. According to him, even many Indians who come to the Cannes market are not watching films. “Very rarely I see someone,” he said, while pointing out how the actual purpose of the festival gets lost in the noise around appearances.
Anurag also spoke about the misconception attached to Cannes in India. He said Indian producers often fear festivals and are also late when it comes to showcasing their films. Because of that delay, even films that may have had a real chance of being selected or noticed end up missing the opportunity.
In a year where Cannes headlines from India are once again filled with gowns, debuts and red carpet moments, Anurag’s comments have landed like a much-needed reality check. Cannes may give stars a global stage, but as he reminded everyone, the real spotlight there still belongs to cinema.
