The Indian film industry is making a mark at the 76th Cannes Film Festival with the official selection of four fiercely individualistic films. Among them is an indie police noir set in Mumbai, Kennedy, which marks writer-director Anurag Kashyap’s first narrative feature to make the Cannes cut. The film, produced by Zee Studios and Kashyap’s new Good Bad Films, stars Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone and follows an insomniac ex-cop searching for redemption while operating within a corrupt system.
Also selected is a student film from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Nehemich, by Yudhajit Basu. The visually evocative Marathi-language short explores the isolation and yearning for freedom of menstruating women in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The restored prints section of Cannes Classics features Manipuri classic Ishanou by Aribam Syam Sharma, which premiered at the festival’s Un certain regard sidebar 32 years ago. Film conservationist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation restored the film, following last year’s unveiling of a restoration of G. Aravindan’s Thamp.
This year’s Indian representation would have pleased Mrinal Sen, the maverick master whose association with the Cannes Film Festival was frequent and rewarding. Sen made his first three trips to the Directors Fortnight – a feat matched only by Kashyap – with Bhuvan Shome, Padatik, and Oka Oorie Katha. He had three films in Competition, including Kharij, which won a Jury Prize, and one in Un certain regard.
Kashyap has made numerous trips to Cannes since 2012 as a director or producer, including Bombay Talkies, Gangs of Wasseypur 1 & 2, Ugly, and Raman Raghav 2.0. He also produced Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan, Vasan Bala’s Peddlers, Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout, and Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox, all of which premiered in Cannes.
The Indian indie cinema scene is undoubtedly thriving, and its presence at the world’s most prestigious film festival is evidence of its growing influence and importance in the global film industry.