GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 17th May. Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur left for France Monday night to attend the Cannes Film Festival, where India has been named as the ‘country of honour’ for Marche du Film, the business counterpart of the marquee event.
The I&B Minister will walk the Red Carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday evening, and will also participate in the Opening Night festivities of Marche Du Film at the Majestic Beach on Wednesday.
Prominent personalities from the entertainment world including A R Rahman, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nayanthara Pooja Hegde, Prasoon Joshi, R Madhavan, Ricky Kej, Shekhar Kapur, Tamannaah Bhatia, Vani Tripathi and folk singer Mame Khan are to be part of the delegation led by Anurag Singh Thakur to the Cannes Film Festival.
“Honoured to represent India at Marche Du Film at the Cannes Film Festival,” Tamannaah Bhatia, a leading actor in Telugu and Tamil films, said on Twitter.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar was also part of the official delegation, but had to opt out after he tested positive for Covid-19.
As one of the highpoints of India’s status as the Country of Honour, a special screening of a restored Indian classic Pratidwandi, directed by Satyajit Ray, has been organized as part of the Festival’s Cannes Classics selection.
Also, world premieres of a range of Indian films will be held at the Olympia Cinema.
India will be showcasing five movies Baghjan (Assamese) by Jaicheng Zxai Dohutia, Bailadila (Chhattisgarhi) by Shailendra Sahu, Ek Jagah Apni (Hindi) by Ektara collective, Follower (Marathi) by Harshad Nalawde and Shivamma (Kannada) by Jai Shankar under the “Goes to Cannes Section”.
These movies are part of the Work in Progress lab under the Film Bazaar.
R Madhavan’s film, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19.
