Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix at Cannes, taking Indian cinema to a new level through international co-productions.
On Saturday night, Payal Kapadia’s All we Imagine as Light boldly went where no Indian film has gone before. Not only was it the first Indian film in the Cannes competition in thirty years – since Shaji Karun’s Swaham (1994) – it also won the Grand Prix.
Chetan Anand’s film ‘Neecha Nagar’ had won the Grand Prix but that was before independence in 1946.
Kapadia cinema broke new ground in many ways. In a film-obsessed country that produces almost a thousand films a year, its impact on the international festival circuit is negligible. In this regard, it is pertinent to note that all the new Indian films at Cannes this year – Santosh, Sister Midnight, The Shameless (directed by Konstantin Bojanov, a Bulgarian filmmaker), Retreat and All We Imagine as Light ‘” – were international. co-productions. It seems difficult to break into the global festival circuit without international support.
Be that as it may, this moment belongs to Payal Kapadia and her team; Anusuya Sengupta, who won Un Certain Regard Best Actress for La Senhonta; and Chidananda Naik, whose short film ‘Sunflowers were the first to Know’ won First prize, and ‘Bunnyhood’ by Manasi Maheshwar, which won third prize in the La Cinef category (for Cinema School Films and Animation Films). What they have in common is that they are all alumni of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). The institute is often controversial. But it is something the organization can rightly be proud of. Kapadia’s film faced the biggest names in the film world. Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Schrader, Jia Zhang-ke, Yorgos Lanthomis, Paolo Sorrentino, and others were present. There was also Mohammed Rasalouf, an Iranian filmmaker who literally crossed mountains to escape a repressive regime to reach Cannes.
Any first-time filmmaker would be over the moon to be mentioned in the same series as these famous names. But the film is the great equalizer; it doesn’t matter if you’re a great creator, the public will judge you by your latest offering. When the lights went up after the screening of All We Imagine as Light in the magnificent Lumiere theater to a raucous eight-minute round of applause, it was clear as day that the film would not go down empty-handed. Applause alone gave no idea of what was to come, the film itself was clearly several notches higher in terms of subject matter, handling, and storytelling. The international press gave it glowing reviews: “Is this ‘magical’ ode to Mumbai by night,” asked the BBC, “A dreamy, tender tale of modern Mumbai a triumph,” Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, and The Variety? headline said: “Bla portrait of urban connectivity and unexpected sisterhood
It was clear that the film will go down in history, with or without the main award, and it is a tribute to the city itself, as it connects.” everywhere is the greatest triumph of the film. Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha portray two sisters from Kerala living in Mumbai where we also see the monsoon, local trains and essential elements of the city in all their glory. Chhaya Kadam (who has been in films like ‘Laapataa Ladies’, ‘Madgaon Express’ and ‘Sister Midnight’ this year apart from this film) plays a widow working in a hospital canteen who is kicked out because her late husband won’t leave everyone. property documents behind. “Without papers, you just disappear into thin air,” he says, and the reference to Kagaz is clearly not just about real estate. While the first half is set in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, the second half is set in the sylvan surroundings of Ratnagiri on the Konkan coast, where the three women meet.
A film is like a room where everything is beautifully arranged, or a complicated physical equation explained most simply; you see the complexity of life and Kapadia expresses it in the most gentle, sympathetic, and understanding way. Actress Vicky Krieps, who won Best Actress for Corsage at Cannes in 2022, said it was one of the most poetic films she had seen in a while and was visibly moved after the screening. Poetic is a word often associated with Kapadia’s short films as well, especially Afternoon Clouds, which reached Cannes in 2017, followed by And What Says Summer, also set in Maharashtra.
His documentary about the FTII student riots, A Night of Knowing Nothing, won the L’Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) at Cannes in 2021.
When Viola Davis came to announce the award, she said: ” Art doesn’t come from a safe place.” It’s a double whammy: making a film is hard enough but making it is another. When Japanese author Hirokazu Koreeda announced the winner, history was made. Kapadia gave the most gracious speech and talked about the sisters.”The friendship between three extremely different women is the subject of this movie. Women frequently oppose one another. Our society is shaped in this way, which is very regrettable. However, she added with reference to Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Chhaya Kadam, “I think friendship is a very important relationship because it can lead to greater solidarity, inclusion, and empathy.”
– elegantly dressed in saris – on stage with her. It was also a big moment for them because they were not the main actors and did not stand out as stars.
Payal Kapadia’s victory in Cannes, however, does not necessarily free her from domestic problems. As an Oscar-winning sound designer.