A high-profile Indian delegation, including Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur, has been given privileged access to global distributors and screened many work-in-progress movies in search of financing at the Cannes Film Festival
Indian actress and Jury member of the Official Selection at the cannes 2022 film fest, Deepika Padukone Image: Valery Hache / AFP
India's film industry, the world's most prolific, is taking centre stage at the Cannes Film Festival, but insiders say it's a challenge to please global audiences without losing its massive fanbase at home.
India is the festival's first-ever guest of honour this year in its "Marche du Film" where global companies come together to buy and sell film rights and hash out production deals.
A high-profile Indian delegation, including a government minister, has been given privileged access to global distributors and screened many work-in-progress movies in search of financing.
"We feel that Indian cinema may be at a turning point, that there's been a renewal of Indian cinema," Jerome Paillard, the Marche du Film's executive director, told AFP.
Global distributors took a major interest in India a decade or more ago with global hits like Hindi-language film "The Lunchbox" (2013).