Payal Kapadia's Cannes win made every Indian proud. Be it the government, fans of Hindi cinema, or film celebrities, everybody congratulated the filmmaker on social media for bagging the Grand Prix award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her film All We Imagine as Light.
Anurag Kashyap Criticizes India's Role in Payal Kapadia's Cannes Success Celebration:
However, Anurag Kashyap believes that everybody in India just likes to take credit and is a part of a fake celebration. Anurag Kashyap says Indians shouldn't take credit of Payal Kapadia's success at Cannes says Anurag Kashyap During a conversation with PTI, Anurag Kashyap said that the victory of Payal Kapadia is presented as the collective victory of India, but it's not, because no one, including the government supports such films.
Indian Artists Garner International Acclaim at Cannes: Anasuya Sengupta and Chidananda S Naik Among Awardees:
Two more Indians received prestigious honors at Cannes Film Festival this year apart from Payal for All We Know As Light. Anasuya Sengupta received the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard strand for The Shameless, and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) student Chidananda S Naik was awarded the Best Short Film Award in the La Cinef section for Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know. Kashyap said that All We Imagine as Light was an Indo-French co-production as it was funded by a French company.
Anurag Kashyap's Candid Critique: Exposes Indian Film Industry's Funding Disparity and Calls for Authentic Celebration:
He said that the film was jointly produced by Petit Chaos from France and Chalk and Cheese Films from India. Indian-British filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s Santosh and Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight were funded by the UK. Moreover, Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless was almost self-funded. Chidananda’s short was a production of the TV Wing’s one-year program under the FTII. The critically acclaimed filmmaker made his point and said, "India just likes to take credit for a lot of things, they do not support these films, and they don’t even support these films to have a release in cinema." He further suggested everyone to stop taking credit for it and the fake celebration. Even if the film is released, no one will go to watch it in the theatre, he said.
Anurag Kashyap Calls Out India's Superficial Fascination with Cannes Red Carpet, Urges Focus on Film Content:
Anurag Kashyap also slammed people for only caring about the Cannes Red Carpet and not about the films. He said that he gets more upset when he hears about such things. He criticized Gajendra Chauhan, former chairman of FTII for taking credit for Payal Kapadia's success. He said that in 2015, Kapadia was one of the students who protested against his appointment as the head of the institute. As a result of which the protestors were charged under various IPC sections for offenses related to unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation, and rioting. The worst part is that the man who put the case against her, and sent some students to jail, is the first man who took the credit for her and said, ‘I’m proud that I was the FTII (chairperson)’. What is his name? Yudhishthir ji (his Mahabharat role), Gajendra Chauhan said, ‘I’m so proud that she was the student when I was the head’. You are the one who put the case against her, said Kashyap.
Anurag Kashyap's Latest A Glimpse into the Filmmaker's Ongoing Projects:
Anurag Kashyap is known for his hard-hitting films like Black Friday, No Smoking, Dev D, Gangs of Wasseypur, Ugly, and more. In 2023, his film Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat was released in cinemas. Kennedy, another film directed by him premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 but is yet to release in theaters.