FEATURE SCREENINGS, PAGE 38 Miss Lovely fter years of agonising about its lack of pres- Anand Gandhi’s philosophical drama The Ship Of ence at the world’s most prestigious fi lm fes- Theseus; Ashish Shukla’s cross-cultural thriller Atival, India had an embarrassment of riches Prague; and Aditya Bhattacharya’s crime thriller Jewels in to offer Cannes this year. And while three films Bombay’s Most Wanted, which features The have been selected for various sections of the festi- Sopranos’ John Ventimiglia in its cast. val, there are other hotly anticipated titles from Another highly anticipated title, Dibakar Baner- India that are likely to pop up at major festivals jee’s Shanghai, a political thriller about power- India’s later in the year. mongering in small-town India, will receive its In Cannes selection are Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss world premiere on June 7 at the Videocon IIFA Lovely, a drama set against India’s sleazy C-grade Weekend in Singapore, one day ahead of its release film industry in the 1980s, which screens in Un in India and diaspora territories through PVR Pic- Certain Regard; Vasan Bala’s Peddlers, following tures. crown three characters in Mumbai, screening in Critics’ In contrast to a few years ago, when Indian fi lms Week; and Anurag Kashyap’s two-part Gangs Of struggled to make a connection to the global mar- With three films selected for Cannes and a flood of Wasseypur, set in the mafi a badlands of ketplace, many of these fi lms have international festival-worthy titles on the horizon, India’s coal-mining industry, screen- sales agents attached — Fortissimo Films has ing in Directors’ Fortnight. picked up Miss Lovely, Monsoon Shootout and The India’s dynamic independent film Other upcoming titles from Ship Of Theseus, while France’s Elle Driver has sector is finally coming of age. India include Monsoon Shootout, Gangs Of Wasseypur and Peddlers. Liz Shackleton reports the debut feature of award-win- This recent fl ood of festival-worthy titles stems n i n g s h o r t s from a dynamic up-and-coming independent director Amit scene which has been bubbling away in India Kumar; for several years. “A lot of strands are starting to fall into place,” observes Fortissimo Films’ chair- man Michael J Werner. “An Indian fi lm community is beginning to emerge that better understands how to speak to the international community, and also what kind of storytelling resonates with inter- national audiences.” He continues that institutional support from organisations such as India’s National Film Devel- Ishaqzaade opment Corp (NFDC) has also played its part. “The » ■ 26 Screen International at Cannes May 21,21, 2012 Feature Delhi Belly “For the films we make in India, the target audi- ence is India and the Indian diaspora, and the films we produce in the US are for a completely different audience,” explains Panesar. “We are not trying to bridge that gap — if we happen to produce a film that works with both audiences, then that’s great, but you can’t set out to make that kind of film.” Cannes regulars UTV Motion Pictures and Eros International will also have their usual berths in the Palais. Eros’ slate includes upcoming perform- ance-capture epic Kochadaiyaan — The Legend, Gangs Of Wasseypur starring Rajinikanth. UTV will be focusing on Aamir Khan-produced comedy Delhi Belly, which other side of the coin is events like Film Bazaar recently had a mainstream release in Hong Kong, bringing people in, the India Pavilion at Cannes and Anurag Basu’s Barfi! starring Ranbir Kapoor and the Incredible India campaign, which are mak- as a happy-go-lucky deaf-mute. ing international distributors much more aware of All the major Indian studios, including Reliance and interested in India,” Werner says. Big Pictures and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures In addition to hosting the annual Film Bazaar (which financed Kashyap’sGangs Of Wasseypur), co-production market in Goa, the NFDC has have direct distribution operations in markets returned to financing Indian productions across a such as the UK, US and Middle East, which range of languages in recent years. Upcoming account for 90% of their global revenues, and projects include Anup Singh’s Punjabi-language informal output deals in other Indian diaspora ter- Qissa, co-produced with Germany’s Heimatfilm ritories. But increasingly they are using interna- and other European partners; Tamil action drama tional film festivals to test audience reaction to Adigaram, and Bengali film-maker Q’sTasher Desh, different kinds of local-language films, and attend co-produced with Indian partners and Belgium’s film markets to explore distribution in non-tradi- Entre Chien et Loup. tional territories. The NFDC also organises the India Pavilion at Peddlers Cannes, which this year is hosting a ‘micro’ co- Opening up new markets production market, showcasing projects from the in India right now; The Ship Of Theseus is a well- “At Cannes we’ll be focusing on new markets and November 2011 edition of Film Bazaar, along with written and moving story with a significant mes- opening up new territories — we recently had a lot networking receptions for Indian film-makers to sage and beautiful photography, and Monsoon of success with Guzaarish [starring Hrithik Roshan mingle with their counterparts from Brazil, New Shootout is more of a genre film that is interesting and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan] which opened theat- Zealand, Australia, Canada and Israel. in its storytelling and the situation it presents.” rically in South Korea, Peru and France,” says As last year, the NFDC has also selected six Meanwhile, mainstream Bollywood will also be Amrita Pandey, UTV’s senior vice-president, inter- Indian film-makers to introduce to the interna- out in force at Cannes. India’s leading privately national distribution and syndication. tional community, including Umesh Vinayak owned film studio, Yash Raj Films, is taking an UTV is also in the process of examining how to Kulkarni, whose Temple (Deol) screened at the office on the Croisette for the first time this year, to maximise synergies with the global distribution Busan International Film Festival last year; Man- introduce the 40-year-old company to the interna- networks of The Walt Disney Company, which is jeet Singh, who took part in this year’s Producers’ tional film community and also test the waters for currently completing its buyout of the Indian stu- Lab in Rotterdam with his project Mumbai Cha ’At Cannes we’ll its upcoming slate of high-profile Hindi films. dio. Indeed, most of the Indian majors are linked Raja, and Tamil film-maker Vetri Maaran, who be focusing on These include Habib Faisal’s Ishaqzaade, a love through ownership ties to US studio partners, or won six National Film Awards for last year’s Aadu- new markets story set against small-town clan wars, which an international sales agent as in the case of Reli- kalam. opened in India on May 11, and three blockbusters ance, a majority investor in IM Global, which could What is heartening about the films emerging and opening up starring Bollywood’s most bankable triumvirate — open up new avenues of distribution. from the independent space in India is their diver- new territories’ Ek Tha Tiger with Salman Khan; a project directed But Cannes, with its attendant glamour and sity, linguistically and also in terms of subject mat- Amrita Pandey, UTV by Yash Raj Films founder Yash Chopra, starring industry functions, will continue to be an impor- ter, storytelling and style. Many of the new Shah Rukh Khan; and Dhoom 3, starring Aamir tant launchpad for the studios’ local-language pic- independent film-makers utilise funding, stars and Khan. tures and international endeavours — it still technicians from India’s established, commercial However, Yash Raj Films vice-president, inter- makes headlines in India when Aishwarya Rai film industries, but are not catering to the general national operations, Avtar Panesar explains that Bachchan walks up the red carpet. And for the mass audience that Bollywood has to serve, so can while the company is developing a solid interna- burgeoning indie sector, the Cannes market is an give full reign to their creativity and vision. tional strategy, it is not attempting to make “cross- essential platform for film-makers and producers Speaking about the three films he has recently over” pictures. Last year, Yash Raj launched a Los to mingle with the international film industry. picked up, Fortissimo’s Werner says: “Each film is Angeles-based production company, YRF Enter- This year’s Cannes, however, is likely to be the very distinct and each should appeal to different tainment, to make English-language films for a biggest celebration for India to date — with three segments of the marketplace. Miss Lovely is an global audience, starting with The Longest Week films in various sections and many more in the exciting new voice set against a colourful back- starring Jason Bateman, which Voltage Pictures is pipeline, its indie film-makers can confidently say ground that’s different to anything else being made handling internationally. they have arrived. ns n 28 Screen International at Cannes May 21, 2012.