Indian Films Absent from Cannes 2019!

Bollywood has made itself somewhat a huge film industry over the past few years. The bloom in overall Indian cinema is hard to ignore with its releasing more than 1800 films last year. Which is why, it came as a shock (and a surprise) that not even a single Indian film made it to Cannes Film Festival this year.

Cannes has previously given recognition to many Indian films in the past in various categories but for the past few years there has been a drastic decline in Indian films even making the cut to Cannes. This year too, out of the 1845 feature films not a single Indian film made it.

“The kind of films that come to Cannes are very niche in India, because it’s not the quintessential Bollywood film,” Indian actress, Huma Qureshi who was in attendance at the Festical, spoke to AFP.

“I don’t think we have the budgets or the willingness for people to actually invest in these kinds of films. We are still more interested in making the quintessential Bollywood film — that’s essentially where the market is right now,” added the 32-year old actress

Huma who made her debut with “Gangs of Wasseypur”, shared that Indian cinema is more focused on making big-budget films right now rather than art- house pictures which gains more attraction in Cannes.

Indian cinema may have made extraordinarily progress in boosting its film industry over the years by following the mantra of making big budget pictures but its absence from the Cannes lineup this year might make them think of changing their game. Just maybe?