How Payal Kapadia's Cannes Winner "All We Imagine As Light" is Redefining Femininity in Indian Cinema
As an ardent fan of global cinema of experimental, arthouse and independent films, I have always wondered why India is not having much success in getting the coveted Grand Prix or the main Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Eight Decades of Indian Cinema
Since the Cannes Film Festival’s inception in 1946, when the Indian film ‘Neech Nagar’ , directed by Chetan Anand, won the Palme d'Or, no other Indian film won any of the top-2 prices at Cannes. Now, after 78 years later, in 2024 , Payal Kapadia’s film wins the Grand Prix for “All We Imagine As Light”. The film revolves around three women living and working in Mumbai, with Kani Kusruti as Prabha, Divya Prabha as Anu and Chhaya Kadam as Parvathy. When I heard the good news, I was overwhelmed with happiness. This is also because Payal Kapadia is a female film director, the film has Malayalam dialogue, and most of all, two of the three lead actresses hails from Kerala.
Overcoming Barriers and Stereotypes
This is a major achievement for a woman filmmaker and also for India. For India, another proud moment this year came, when Anasuya Sengupta has made the nation proud again at Cannes by becoming the first Indian to win the best actress award, for her portrayal of a sex worker in the film The Shameless.
Looking Towards the Future
Payal Kapadia, born in 1986, in the last 10 years, has written and directed a total of 5 films. In 2017, her short film ‘Afternoon Clouds’ was the only Indian film that was selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival. Then she won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 2021 Cannes for her film ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’, Kapadia’s first feature film with a few fictionalised elements. I’m sure that she made women and men all over the world feel very proud. We look forward to many creative films from Payal.
Article written by Subash
12 June 2024
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