Indian cinema has enjoyed a bumper year in Cannes, with seven films from the country screening across the festival’s various strands. FRANCE 24 spoke to filmmaker Payal Kapadia, India's first Palme d’Or contender in 30 years with her “All We Imagine as Light”, and the cast and director of police procedural “Santosh”, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard sidebar.
A bridge between cinema’s top players and emerging art-house talent, the Cannes Film Festival has a habit of turning the spotlight on countries and continents that stand out for their creativity, influence or singularity.
In 2023, African helmers took centre stage, with six films in the official selection and a Carrosse d'Or, which pays tribute to the career of outstanding filmmakers, awarded to Malian film legend Souleymane Cissé.
This year it has been India’s turn to shine.
The country’s prolific film industry has supplied seven films at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, including two that featured in the official line-up, both of them directed by women. It’s a remarkable turnaround for the giant of South Asian film, once a regular in Cannes but whose French Riviera harvest was starting to look as thin as the country’s Olympics medal haul.
Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” is the first Indian film to feature in the festival’s main competition in a staggering 30 years. It earned glowing reviews from critics in Cannes, surging to the front of the pack in a wide-open Palme d’Or race.
Read moreEscaped Iranian director wraps up wide-open race for Cannes Palme d’Or
There was praise, too, for Sandhya Suri’s "Santosh", about a woman police officer facing sexism and corruption as she investigates the murder of a young girl from a lower caste in small-town India, which opened in the Un Certain Regard sidebar.
The crushing weight of patriarchy
A poetic tale of love and loss, Kapadia’s movie follows a pair of small-town nurses who find themselves adrift in the sprawling metropolis of Mumbai. While the self-effacing and norm-abiding Prabha (Kani Kusruti) waits patiently for the return of her husband, who has vanished without a trace, her roommate Anu (Divya Prabha) has a secret romance with a young Muslim man as she plots her way out of an arranged marriage – a discrepancy that puts their friendship to the test.
“In Indian culture, as in many South Asian countries, patriarchy is deeply entrenched and sometimes pushes women to fight each other, to pull each other down, instead of working together to overcome this model,” said Kapadia, 38, who won Cannes’ Golden Eye award for best documentary film in 2021 for “A Night of Knowing Nothing”.
“You can have financial freedom but without being able to choose your partner, because it’s often the family that pulls the strings,” she added. “Women are a badge of honour. The behaviour of daughters reflects on their parents – and I think this infantilises women.”
Suri’s “Santosh” sheds an even starker light on the stifling nature of patriarchal control.
The film opens with the death of the titular character’s husband, a traumatic event that leads to Santosh being rejected by both her family and her in-laws. The young woman is eventually offered her late husband’s job, thus joining the police force under a scheme known as “compassionate employment”.
“This system, which exists in India in the civil service, makes it possible to ‘inherit’ a job after the death of a father or husband, the idea being to prevent families from slipping into poverty,” said the director, who grew up in England.
The practice, which applies to people who are financially dependent, is also open to brothers and sisters, sometimes giving rise to conflicts within families and even legal proceedings.
“Sometimes people fight to get these jobs, because even if they're not necessarily well paid, they're lifelong jobs that offer security,” said actor Shahana Goswami, who plays the title role.
Once in the force, Santosh sets out to investigate the murder of a young Hindu woman from a lower caste, delving into a world plagued by corruption, misogyny and unequal justice. As her boss puts it, “There are those you don't want to touch and those you cannot touch.”
“I wanted to provide a counterweight to the portrayal of the police in Bollywood films, which sometimes depict them as heroes and glorify violence,” said Suri. “For me, it was a case of taking a step back to portray a more nuanced reality.”
India’s big moment in Cannes
Far from the Bollywood spectacle, Cannes has chosen to celebrate introspective Indian films that ask searching questions about society. The director of “Santosh” pointed to a strong tradition of art-house cinema in India, citing the celebrated auteur Shyam Benegal as an inspiration for her work.
Benegal was in Cannes this year to present a restored copy of his crowdfunded 1976 masterpiece “Manthan”, which screened in the Cannes Classics segment ahead of a theatrical release in his home country next month.
In another highlight for Indian film, acclaimed cinematographer and director Santosh Sivan delivered a masterclass to festivalgoers in Cannes as he received the Pierre Angénieux award, a prize bestowed each year on a leading cinematographer.
Making her first appearance in Cannes, actor Sunita Rajwar, who plays a supporting role in “Santosh”, said she was delighted with the buzz surrounding India this year.
“I’m very grateful for the support we’ve received here in Cannes and I love the atmosphere of the festival,” she said. “All these people from all over the world in one place, expressing so much passion for films that aren’t even in their own language. It’s quite something!”
Goswami added: “We’ve had a very active indie scene for a long time, and we’re thrilled that we can take advantage of the festival’s huge exposure this year.”
Kapadia, the Palme d’Or contender, said she hoped this would not be a one-off: “I just hope we won’t have to wait another 30 years for the next film in competition.”
