New Delhi/Paris: With India being declared as the official “country of honour” at the Cannes Film Market (Marché du Film), a roster of Indian celebrities will walk the red carpet at the film festival as part of a delegation led by Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, including A.R Rahman, Akshay Kumar, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, R. Madhavan.
Other names include Pooja Hedge, CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi, acclaimed director Shekhar Kapur, CBFC board member Vani Tripathi Tikoo, folk artist Mame Khan and many more.
One of the highlights of the film fest will include the R. Madhavan directorial and starrer “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect” which is based on the life of ISRO scientist Nambi Narayan who was falsely accused on the charges of espionage.
Other Indian films to be aired during the festival include “Godavari”, “Alpha Beta Gamma”, “Boomba Ride”, “Dhuin” and “Tree Full of Parrots”.
Another important film from the annals of Indian film history includes legendary director Satyajit Ray's “Pratidwandi”(1970) which will be screened at the Cannes Classic section Cinéma de la plage.
The movie festival will take place from May 17 – 28 and the Palais des Festival premiere will take place during a prime-time slot at 9 pm on Thursday, May 19, as part of the celebration of India as the official country of honour at the Cannes Film Market this year - an inaugural tradition that will be continued at future editions.
This is the first time such an honour has ever been bestowed upon a foreign country in the history of the film festival.
In an interesting turn of events, the honour for India also comes at a time when India and France mark 75 of their diplomatic relations, and of India's 75 years of its independence. (UNI)
