Indian movies add to Cannes glitz

The Cannes film festival is known to be where new talent, or relatively unknown talent is discovered. That's where Steven Sodebergh and Quentin Tarantino were spotted and burst into the big time league. But this time around, India is making its presence felt with some quality cinema...apart from Abhishek Bachchan and his wife, Aishwarya Rai - a veteran carpet walker there - showing up.

There was filmmaker Mani Ratnam who was promoting 'Guru' at the festival, as part of Cannes' tribute to 60 years of Indian independence. Also present was a visibly relaxed looking, Amitabh Bachchan who was there to talk about his new film with Tabu, 'Cheeni Kum', which is releasing tommorow. Also, the loveable rogue Munnabhai was there. 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' got a packed screening at the Cannes film festival, and the seven Indian films selected are likely to dispel all cliches about Indian cinema.

Eight months after its theatrical release, the inspiring story of Munna and his experiments with truth continues to touch people's hearts. At the Cannes film festival, where 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' is included in the "Cinema of the World" section, the film's screening drew a packed house of mostly French students. Lining up in long queues to catch this film that had been strongly recommended in festival reviews, not one person who entered the screening left before the end of the two-hours-thirty-minutes film, which was screened with French subtitles.

For the film's director, Rajkumar Hirani who attended the screening at Cannes with his wife Manjeet and his six-year-old son Veer, the never-ending popularity of "Lage Raho Munnabhai" continues to come as a pleasant surprise. Filmmaker, Rajkumar Hirani told CNBC-TV18 that, he was nervous about the film when it was released. Then he was nervous how English-speaking audiences will react, and he was again nervous how French audiences would react, but is surprised and overwhelmed that they enjoyed it this much.

The "Cinema of the World" section at Cannes this year honours Indian cinema with a seven-film package that includes Hindi films 'Guru', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' and 'Dharm', Tamil film 'Veyil', Malayalam film 'Saira', Bengali film 'Dosar' and English film 'Missed Call'. The makers of all seven films - including veterans Mani Ratnam, Rituparno Ghosh and Shankar were present at the inauguration of this section, which was attended by a significant white audience.

More significant than Aishwarya Rai or Preity Zinta's presence on the red carpet is the warm reception that these seven selected films have received at Cannes this year. For those unfamiliar with Indian cinema, it has given them an opportunity to understand that there's more to our movies than just song-and-dance. And with "Lage Raho Munnabhai", it's also made them realize that all song-and-dance films aren't necessarily mindless entertainers.

But if India was more holistically present via its movies, there was a lot of international glamour there as well. Sharon Stone, Daniel Craig, Leonardo DiCaprio, Julianne Moore, Kylie Minogue, Quentin Tarantino, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell were all there. The latest James Bond star, Daniel Craig took leave from the secret agent's job for a 'fantasy epic' titled 'The Golden Compass'.

This is based on author Philip Pullman's best selling trilogy. Craig along with fellow cast members Eva Green, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Elliot and director Chris Weitz were in Cannes for the launch of the film. Craig told CNBC-TV18, "It's not about doing non-James Bond's roles, it's doing good jobs." 'The Golden Compass' is produced by New Line Cinema, the company which also produced the billion dollar grossing 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. So, watch out for this Daniel Craig starrer, which hits theatres in December 2007.

Meanhwile, Leonardo DiCaprio was put in a tight spot when he came in to promote his environmental documentary film '11th Hour'. The film is a cinematic campaign to save the planet and hurls hard hitting questions about human beings capacity to deal with huge environmental problems. Hard-hitting or not, Leonardo got grilled by the media at Cannes about his eco-friendly choices.

Here is how he was grilled, "You say that you try and live your life in a green manner. Can I ask how you got to Cannes, was it a train or plane?"
DiCaprio: Oh yeah, a train across the ocean. (laughs)
Q: I mean, did you fly to Paris and maybe get a train there?
DiCaprio: I was in New York and I flew commercial here.
Q: Obviously you have to travel the world to promote your films. Do you try to make considerations?
DiCaprio: Yes, I try as often as I possibly can to fly commercial.

DiCaprio has co-produced and narrated '11th Hour'. Other contributors include physicist, author Stephen Hawking and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev.

Then there is Quentin Tarantino's latest flick, that has the critics calling it amazing and a film about killer instincts. Quentin Tarantino's latest grindhouse tribute 'Deathproof' may not have delighted the critics or the box-office in the US but the filmmaker received a warm welcome at the Cannes Festival where critics called the film 'amazing'.

'Deathproof' is an extended version of the film that formed part of the "Grindhouse" double bill along with Robert Rodriguez's 'Planet Terror', and is in the competition section this year for the Palme D'Or. And Quentin who's already received the honour for his 'Pulp Fiction' in 1994, loves being called a favourite son of the Festival.

Director, Quentin Tarantino says, "To me it (Cannes Film Festival) has always been for the first hundred years of cinema, it has been Mount Olympus, and it is where the Gods go. It is where the great filmmakers go, it is where the greatest films ever made had their first screenings." Grindhouse's international release has been put on hold, following it's disappointing box-office performance in the US. Tarantino fans back home will have to wait for a DVD release.

Another former Palme D'Or winner filmmaker, Gus Van Sant returned to Cannes with 'Paranoid Park', a dark film about a teenage skater who accidentally kills a security guard. As with his award winning film 'Elephant,' which won the highest honour in 2004, his latest film focusses on teenage troubles and the pressures of adolescence. Named after the legendary skateboard venue in Portland Oregon 'Paranoid Park' has received a warm reception from critics, for its ghostly portrayal of teenage angst - making it one of the favourites in the competition section this year.

Then the focus shifted from cinema to celebrities at the ongoing Cannes film festival, when hollywood hotties Sharon Stone and George Clooney auctioned 'kisses'---all for the sake of charity at the 'Cinema Against AIDS' benefit. The glitzy event saw the likes of Matt Damon, Quentin Tarantino, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. And when Stone was joined by Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, the duo clearly hit the right note in their effort to support the cause.
 
Having auctioned kisses, George Clooney later teamed up with the rest of the cast of 'Ocean's 13' including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Andy Garcia for the promotion of their much-anticipated third installment of the 'Ocean's' series. The movie was screened on Thursday night at Cannes and is about the con men trying to bankrupt a Las Vegas casino in a record amount of time, while escaping its owner, played by Al Pacino. 

Meanwhile, actress Julianne Moore makes her presence felt at Cannes with 'Savage Grace' - a psychodrama that tells the true story of the murder of socialite Barbara Baekeland who was stabbed to death by her son in 1972. Moore plays Barbara, a model and aspiring actress who seduces her own son in an attempt to "cure" him of his homosexuality.

Actress, Julianne Moore says, "If this were something that was fiction, I think it would be less interesting because it would just seem salacious. But because it is non-fiction, I think you sort of like (think) - what brought these people here, you know? How did this actually happen?" 'Savage Grace' also stars newcomer Eddie Redmayne.

So, is he the new star waiting to explode on the horizon? Wait and watch out for 'Savage Grace'. One person who has already made an impact is singer, Norah Jones in her debut film, My Blueberry Nights', which also premiered here.

Some of the films competing at this years 60th Cannes film festival are an excellent line-up of off-beat world cinema .

If there is one film that everyone at the Cannes film festival is talking about then its 'The Diving bell and the Butterfly.' This film by New York artist Julian Schnabel is based on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby. When 43-year-old Bauby is almost completely paralysed by a stroke, he goes on to write his memoirs in an unsual way---he communicates by blinking his left eye. This moving story has already attracted rave reviews and is one of the top contenders for the Palme D'Or.

Another film that has caused a bit of a stir at Cannes is 'Persepolis'. Co-directed by graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi, it's the tale of her rebellious coming of age after the Iranian revolution. The film, however, has already run into deep waters. According to reports, a letter of protest was sent to the French Embassy in Tehran by the Iran Farabi Foundation, a government-affiliated body in charge of festivals in Iran. 'Persepolis' is also vying for the prestigious Palme D'Or.

Rajeev Masand