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“Monsoon Shootout” by Amit Kumar will have a midnight screening at Cannes 2013

There was a time in Indian cinema, the era of the masters like Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy and Mrinal Sen, when it was not unusual to have several Indian films in competition at the Cannes film festival. Take for instance the year 1956 when Ray’s Pather Panchali and Shantaram Athavale’s Shevgyachya Shenga competed in the feature film category. Or the year 1954 when Bimal Roy’s Do Beegha Zameen and Kishore Sahu’s Mayurpankh were in competition along with two short films by Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani. [Read India’s tryst with Cannes]

The last Indian film that got selected in competition was Shaji Karun’s Swaham way back in 1994. Since then, we haven’t managed to catch the fancy of Cannes selectors [Read Why Indian films don't make it to Cannes]. However, this year seems to be a little different. With four films and one project making it to various sections, this certainly...

Anurag Kashyap at Cannes

Cannes has Kashyap written all over the Croisette. His production Udaan broke the seven year jinx at the prestigious festival in 2010. In 2012 he returned to the French Riviera as producer of Vasan Bala’s Peddlers at Critics Week while his two part Gangs of Wasseypur screened at Directors’ Fortnight. This year the tally goes further up with his productions Dabba and Monsoon Shootout, while he leads from the front with his Ugly. And that’s not all- he has also directed a segment of Bombay Talkies that has a gala screening to celebrate the 100 years of Indian cinema. For Cannes it seems like Indian cinema has become synonymous with Anurag Kashyap. Bikas Mishra speaks to the director in an exclusive interview.

What is Ugly about?

I don’t want to talk about Ugly. It’s just a thriller. I never narrated the script to anybody before...

Three Indian films that premiere at Cannes 2013 have Nawazuddin Siddiqui in prominent roles. Nandita Dutta speaks to the actor and his directors to find out what’s special about the man and his craft

Nawazuddin plays an actor in Dibakar Banerjee directed segment of Bombay Talkies. The film will have a gala screening at 66th Cannes Film Festival

Six films in two years at the crème de la crème of film festivals is no mean feat to pull for any actor anywhere in the world. As Indian cinema gains more visibility at the Cannes film festival by the year, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has become a face which is easy to spot and hard to ignore when one talks about the films that have made it to the coveted film festival. After Miss Lovely and Gangs of Wasseypur 1 & 2 in 2012, the actor will walk the red carpet this year for Bombay Talkies, Dabba and Monsoon Shootout.

Amit Kumar’s ten year long journey culminates in a midnight screening at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. Amit first pitched Monsoon Shootout to the UK Film Council in 2003 but waited for eight years to start shooting in 2011. In an exclusive interview to DearCinema.com, Amit Kumar talks about his film, working with international co-producers and his decade long struggle to make Monsoon Shootout happen.

How does it feel to have your film in the official selection at Cannes?

It’s a great honour. Waves of excitement interspersed with tonnes of work!

For the two years while I was hunting for finance, it was by and large the same story- okay we love your short film and your script but…let’s cast some star in it. I just wanted to work with good actors; I wanted to make a certain kind of film. So, it took much longer

How...

Today’s film is the 2003 short The Bypass. The short, which is dialogue-free, is written and directed by filmmaker Amit Kumar, and stars Irrfan Khan. Irrfan has subsequently gone on to take supporting roles in numerous Hollywood productions, and was seen earlier this year in The Amazing Spider-Man. He can currently be seen in theatres in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi.

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When American heartthrob of millions, Johnny Depp, walked the red carpet at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival here, it gave the 12-day cinematic extravaganza a much needed celeb moment. When Hollywood is up the red carpet, can Bollywood be far behind? Indian bombshell Mallika Sherawat attended the premiere of ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' wearing a daring see-through dress that revealed her butt. Last year, she was seen here with a python wrapped around her. While the crowds screamed, "We love you Johnny", the shutterbugs were busy capturing the Indian actress in her sheer glory. Today, there will be another Hollywood hero on the red carpet, Brad Pitt, whose movie, ''The Tree of Life'', will screen this evening. Rani Mukherjee and Karan Johar will arrive at Cannes tomorrow, and are planning to meet the press. In a co-production among India, France, Britain and Holland that was announced here,...