The Cannes Film Festival has kicked off, and the list of Indian celebrities set to make a statement on the coveted red carpet is beyond amazing! Cannes regulars, Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are returning to the South of France this year, with the former finding a seat on the prestigious Cannes Film Festival jury. Although not officially announced, Aish is expected to walk the carpet in a luxe avatar. She left for France with daughter Aaradhya and husband Abhishek Bachchan.
The list of attendees at this year’s event ranges from movie actors to television stars. The list includes Southern star Nayanthara, along with Tamannaah Bhatia, Pooja Hegde and Aditi Rao Hydari. Also in attendance are TV’s Hina Khan and Helly Shah. While this would be Hina’s second time at Cannes, the other ladies will be making their debut this year. The 11-day festival begins on May 17 and will run through May 28.
For the first time, Deepika Padukone will sit on the main jury at the Cannes Film Festival instead of being an attendee. The Festival de Cannes announced on April 26 that Deepika had been selected to be a jury member for the festival’s 75th edition.
In a star-studded presence on the Red Carpet, Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Shri Anurag Thakur led the largest ever Indian official delegation of eleven celebrities walking together on the inaugural event at the Cannes Film Festival.
In a historic moment for Indian folk arts, Shri Mame Khan became the first-ever folk artist to open a Red Carpet for the Indian contingent at Cannes ever.
Among the stars was actor Nawazuddin Siddique, a regular at Cannes. His raw, powerful acting and the realism of his movies, such as The Lunchbox or Gangs of Wasseypur, have particular resonance among European audiences and signal that India is capable of producing movies catering to a wide range of sensitivities.
The presence of superstar music composer AR Rahman in the group displayed the intent of the Indian delegation to pay tribute to cinematographic music. Ricky Kej, an internationally acclaimed new age music composer and multi-Grammy Award winner, represented a more contemporary side of India. Prasoon Joshi, a lyricist who penned innumerable evergreen film songs, and now Chairman of the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), was also present.
This year, cinema from the south was in the spotlight. R. Madhavan, an actor and producer who has been involved in movies shot in six different languages (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English) was a good example of the staggering diversity of Indian cinema. Two Telugu cinema superstars, Tamannah Bhatia and Pooja Hegde, also made their dazzling appearance as part of the delegation.
Shekhar Kapur, director of legendary films such as Mr. India, and now chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), as well as Vani Tripathi Tikoo, actress and member of CBFC, also took part in the Indian delegation.
