From Chetan Anand to Payal Kapadia, Indian filmmakers and Cannes glory

Indias association with the Cannes Film Festival is as old as the worlds most anticipated showcase of global cinema whose 77th edition will open in the French Riviera on Tuesday It began with Chetan Anands Neecha Nagar winning the then highest award Grand Prix du Festival International du Film in the festivals inaugural year 1946 The gritty film shared the honour with David Leans Brief EncountersA little more than half a decade later V Shantarams Amar Bhoopali 1952 a Marathi biopic on a poet and musician Honaji Balai in the early 19th century and Raj Kapoors classic Awaara 1953 were nominated for the Grand Prix but could not get the coveted prize Shantarams film however won an award for best sound recordingAfter these near misses came four backtoback trophies for Indian films that made it to the competition section at Cannes Bimal Roys Do Bigha Zameen 1954 got the International Prize Baby Naaz got a Special Mention as Child Artiste for Boot Polish 1955 produced by Raj Kapoor Satyajit Rays debut film Pather Panchali got the Palme dOr for Best Human Document and finally in 1957 Rajbans Khannas Gotama Buddha earned him a Special Mention Short Film as Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee incidentally was the films editorThen followed an extended drought although Satyajit Rays Parash Pathar 1958 and Devi 1962 were nominated for the Palme dOr followed by MS Sathyus Garam Hawa 1974 which had been shortlisted for the Grand Prix Mrinal Sen ended this long wait with his film Kharij 1983 he had to be content with the Jury Prize though despite being nominated for a Palm dOr In the following year Satyajit Rays eponymous film based on Rabindranath Tagores novel Ghare Baire was also nominated for the Palme dOr but the master had to return emptyhanded Since then Indian films have been making their presence felt though all of them may not have grabbed the headlinesIn 1988 Mira Nair won the Cameacutera dOr Audience Award for her debut feature film Salaam Bombay Shaji N Karun got a Cameacutera dOr Special Mention for his acclaimed Malayalam film Piravi 1989 about Prof TV Eachara Warrier whose collegegoing son was killed in police custody during the EmergencyIn 1991 Deepa Mehta won a Cameacutera dOr Special Mention for Sam amp Me though the film was listed as a Canadian production That year turned out to be doubly special for India after Aribam Syam Sharmas Ishanou a film in the Meitei language was nominated for the top award in the festivals Un Certain Regard segment It was a first for any film from Indias NorthEastThen came the double good news of 1994 Malayalam director Shaji N Karuns Swaham was nominated for the Palme dOr an honour that has come 30 long years later to Payal Kapadia Satyajit Rays son Sandip Rays Bengali film Uttaran got the nomination for the Un Certain Regard Award Both films however did not get the award they had been nominated for Towards the end of a dry 1990s Murali Nairs Marana Simhasanam 1999 a Malayalam film about the first execution by electric chair in India won the Camera dOr an award that goes to the best first feature filmWhat followed in the opening decades of the 2000s were minor but not insignificant awards These were for Manish Jhas A Very Very Silent Film 2002 Short Film Jury Prize Gitanjali Raos animated film Printed Rainbow 2006 Grand Rail drsquoOr Audience Award and Ritesh Batras celebrated Irrfan Khanstarrer The Lunchbox 2013 Grand Rail drsquoOr Audience Award Karan Johars Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh Bombay Talkies the fourinone package of short films celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema was nominated for the Queer Palm in 2015 without successIn recent years Kanu Behls neonoir crime drama Titli got nominated for but did not win the Camera DOr in 2014 In the following year 2015 Neeraj Ghaywans acclaimed film Masaan starring Richa Chadha and Vicky Kaushal it was his debut film won the FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Certain Regard section Gurvinder Singh Chauthi Koot 2015 and Nandita Das Manto 2018 were nominated but did not come home with the Un Certain Regard AwardPayal Kapadia whos in contention this year for the Palme dOr for her debut feature film All We Imagine is Light won the Golden Eye for her documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing in 2021 and in the subsequent year Delhis Shaunak Sen went home with the same award for All That Breathes which also made it to the Oscars shortlistAs the curtains go up on Cannes all eyes will be on Kapadias film about two nurses who are tortured by their relationships and what they discover when they take a road trip to a beach for a holiday Its been 30 years since an Indian film was selected to compete for the Palme dOr Shaji Karun wasnt successful in 1994 Will Payal Kapadia script history in 2024This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove 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