Bollywood bigwigs meet Intl celebs, Indian films make waves

New Delhi, May 28: The whos who of the Indian entertainment industry interacted with a host of international celebrities at the Cannes film festival at an event organised by the Film and Television producers Guild, even as a number of Indian films like Jagmohan Mundhra's 'Provoked', Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Omkara' and Karan Johar's 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' evoked a lot of curiosity in the international cinematic circles.

Renowned Indian filmmakers like Ronnie Screwvala, Bobby Bedi, Vishal Bhardwaj, Karan Johar, Ketan Mehta, Sudhir Misra, Dev Benegal, Vinod Kumar, Sunil Doshi, Manu Rewal, Suneel Darshan and Jagmohan Mundhra rubbed shoulders with personalities from the world of international cinema like Ashok Amritraj, Metakammer Valentic a representative from Producers Guild of America (PGA), Richard Sheffield, Stephen De Potter, Olaf Alchunger, Ruth Hurley of the New Zealand film commission, Mike Runagall, Mathew Riklin, Jason Beck, Nicole Ballivan and Clare Wise at a dinner and cocktails party hosted by the Guild during the 59th Cannes film festival on May 19.

Also present at the event, aimed at providing a meeting ground for the Guild members and other Indian delegates present in Cannes with the international delegates, were Guild president Amit Khanna, its secretary Supran Sen, its media coordinator Anindya Dasgupta, chief secretary, Government of Goa, J P Singh, Director Film festivals Vishvajit Sahay, Sunil Lulla, Atul Goel of Zee, Ashish Bhatnagar of Dreams Productions, Sandeep Bhargava of Sahara, Sunir Kheterpal, Vinod Kumar and representatives from Sahara, Tips as well as the NFDC.

Guild sources told UNI that the event, positioned as a meeting ground for Indian delegates (dominated by a large presence of Guild members) with their foreign counterparts, took place at a picturesque venue overlooking the blue waters of the Mediterranean.

The objective was a meaningful interaction in a relaxed manner over spirits and delightful food and the attempt was an unqualified success on all counts.

Infact, this year at Cannes, Guild members made their presence felt in a big way with many of them taking an active part in the Cannes film market.

While Ajay Devgan, a member of the Guild, was in Cannes to promote his new film 'Omkara', Karan Johar was there to promote his forthcoming 'Kabhi Alvida na Kehna'. Some other guild members like the UTV, Eros and Adlabs also chose to showcase their forthcoming ventures by putting up stalls at the film market. In this milieu, this effort of the Guild to provide its members and other Indian delegates with an opportunity to interact with distributors and investors from other parts of the world was lauded by all.

The event organised by the Guild provided its members with an excellent opportunity to interact with distributors and investors from other parts of the world. ''Today, there is professionalism coming in with the advent of corporatisation. Indians are descending in large numbers at Cannes and other important film destinations. This is clear evidence of the fact that there is change. Today Indian films are everywhere.

From a mere token presence, you are seeing Indian entertainment getting a larger share of wallet and eyeballs. We should not lose sight of the fact that we make commercially successful mainstream box office popular cinema. Things can only go northwards from here,'' the Guild said.

''The Film and Television Producers Guild of India Ltd will do its utmost to further tap and guide this monumental surge. The event organised by the Guild reaffirms its commitment to globalise the Indian entertainment industry. The Guild continues to leave no stone unturned in working towards the growth and progress of the Indian producers in the face of intense international competition,''it said.

Sources said filmmaker Karan Johar has managed to sell Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (KANK) to distributors from Germany, France and Poland at the 59th Cannes Film Festival. Other 'non-traditional' international centres are also receptive to the eagerly awaited film. At the same time, 'Omkara' had elicited an encouraging response.

This year's edition of Cannes film festival also saw 'Hari Om', the first international venture by Tips films and Bharat Bala productions, being screened to rave reviews and good audience response.

Directed by Bharat Bala and produced by Kumar S Taurani, Ramesh S Taurani and Bharat Bala himself, 'Hari Om', starring Vijay Raaz, Camille Natta, Jean Marie Lamour, A K Hangal and Anupam Shyam, is a touching romantic film. The film was earlier screened at last year's Indian Film festival of Los Angeles.

Besides, it has got the award for the best foreign film category (Tahoe international film festival, 2005) and the Saiento award for the best film (Saiento international film festival, Italy 2005).

As many as 65 Indian films are being screened at the Cannes film festival, which began from May 17 and will be held till 29, as part of the festival's film market section.

Over 80 companies and 18 exhibitors from India are showcasing their product and projects at the India Pavilion.

Among the prominent Indian films screened at the Indian market section at Cannes this year are Ali Larter, the Salman Khan-starrer 'Marigold', Rakyesh Mehra's 'Rang De Basanti', Jagmohan Mundra's 'Provoked', The Last Monk by Sudipto Sen, 'Mixed Doubles' by Rajat Kapur, 'Navarasa' (Nine Emotions ) by Santosh Sivan among others.

UNI