Anurag Kashyap calls out lack of Indian support for Cannes success stories: 'Stop taking credit'

Bollywood filmmaker-actor Anurag Kashyap has criticized a section of the Indian film fraternity for taking credit for the achievements of Indian talents at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. He revealed that none of the Indian films that made a mark at Cannes had any support from the Indian filmmaking community or the government.

"We had a great representation at Cannes this year. Anasuya Sengupta won the award as an actor, and the films of Payal Kapadia and Sandhya Suri—none of them were supported by India. They would not have been made if not for the French fund," Anurag told Fever FM.

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He shared that director Konstantin Bojanov had lived in his house while trying to make The Shameless. The movie competed at Cannes, received two nominations, and won one award. "No actors responded to him. It took him 10 years to make this film," recalled Anurag.

He also revealed that Anasuya Sengupta was originally an art director but was cast as the lead in The Shameless since no other professional actors were willing to take up the role. Anasuya made history by becoming the first Indian actress to win the Best Actress Award in the Un Certain Regard segment at Cannes.

"India does not support independent cinema," he lamented. Anurag also recalled an incident when top Indian designers refused to make a suit for Nawazuddin Siddiqui for his Cannes debut during the screening of Gangs of Wasseypur. Nawazuddin wore a suit made by a local tailor to the event.

"None of the films with an Indian connection were supported by India. The only film out of the four that is an Indo-French co-production, All We Imagine as Light, has not even received the government rebate yet," he noted.

Anurag alleged that Gajendra Chauhan, who was the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) when Payal Kapadia was a student there, filed cases against the director of All We Imagine as Light. He criticized Chauhan for now seeming eager to take credit for Payal's victory.

Payal made history by winning the Grand Prix award at Cannes for All We Imagine as Light.

"Let's stop basking in somebody else's hard work, who has done it on their own. Payal Kapadia has won twice on her own, and those films are not even released in India. The support she gets is from outside. After her big victory, everybody wants to own a piece of her. I am sorry, she had no option but to go outside and get funding," he said.

Anurag claimed that the Indian film ecosystem is fraught with issues and does very little to encourage independent film productions. "There is no system that empowers you. But there is always a system that takes credit," he remarked.

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