A movie set in militancy-era Punjab and another amidst the burning ghats of Varanasi will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Gurvinder Singh’s Chauthi Koot, which explores the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in Punjab, and Neeraj Ghaywan’s directorial debut Masaan, which ties together four intersecting narratives, will be part of the prestigious Un Certain Regard section at the festival that will run from May 13 to 25.
The films have been selected by Cannes programmers for a category that recognises debut and sophomore efforts by directors from around the world. “I am super happy for the entire team that put together Masaan and not just me,” Ghaywan said. “I have always followed every film that premiered at the Mecca of cinema and now seeing our own film up there is something that I cannot explain in words. I went to Cannes in 2012 as an assistant on Gangs of Wasseypur and three years later I am going as a director.”
Gurvinder Singh, whose debut feature Anhe Ghore Da Daan was premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, said, “It is a wonderful start to the journey of the film. Cannes is one of the most important festivals in the world. I was at Venice the last time, and it is nice to be in a different festival this year.”
Small-town India
Chauthi Koot (The Fourth Direction) is based on two short stories by Punjabi writer Waryam Singh Sandhu. The Film and Television Institute of India alumnus’s acclaimed debut explored the social and economic tensions facing rural Punjab. Chauthi Koot has been co-produced by Kartikeya Singh and Sunil Doshi in India and Catherine Dussart in France. The movie features mostly non-professional actors, and has been shot by FTII alumnus and Anhe Ghore Da Daan’s cinematographer Satya Rai Nagpaul.
Chauthi Koot.
Masaan (Crematorium), originally titled Flying Solo, has been written by Ghaywan and Varun Grover and co-produced by, among others, Sikhya Entertainment, Phantom Films and Manish Mundhra. The plot follows the lives of four people who live on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi. The cast includes Richa Chadha, Sanjay Mishra Vineet Kumar, Vicky Kaushal and Pankaj Tripathi. Ghaywan first shot to attention in 2011 with his award-winning short film Shor.
High-profile event
Both films have a good chance of getting critical attention and commercial interest because of the section in which they have been programmed. Although Un Certain Regard is not as prestigious as the Competition section, it is a respectable-enough parallel section to merit the attention of the industry insiders and the buyers who flock to Cannes every year in search of fresh and unusual storytelling talent. “Cannes has a very rigourous selection process and they look for strong voices across the world,” Gurvinder Singh said. “With Cannes, we will hopefully get distribution support and the film will travels to other festivals too.”
Several Indian films have been shown in Un Certain Regard since it was introduced in 1978. The first Indian film to be selected for this section was Mani Kaul’s Satah Se Uthata Aadmi in 1981. Subsequent selections include Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Elippathayam, Mrinal Sen’s Khandar, Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay!, Aribam Syam Sharma’s Ishanou, Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan, Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely and Kanu Behl’s Titli. Films shown in this section are eligible for a prize of 30,000 euros as well as for other prizes such as the Camera D’Or, given to the best first feature.
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The films have been selected by Cannes programmers for a category that recognises debut and sophomore efforts by directors from around the world. “I am super happy for the entire team that put together Masaan and not just me,” Ghaywan said. “I have always followed every film that premiered at the Mecca of cinema and now seeing our own film up there is something that I cannot explain in words. I went to Cannes in 2012 as an assistant on Gangs of Wasseypur and three years later I am going as a director.”
Gurvinder Singh, whose debut feature Anhe Ghore Da Daan was premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, said, “It is a wonderful start to the journey of the film. Cannes is one of the most important festivals in the world. I was at Venice the last time, and it is nice to be in a different festival this year.”
Small-town India
Chauthi Koot (The Fourth Direction) is based on two short stories by Punjabi writer Waryam Singh Sandhu. The Film and Television Institute of India alumnus’s acclaimed debut explored the social and economic tensions facing rural Punjab. Chauthi Koot has been co-produced by Kartikeya Singh and Sunil Doshi in India and Catherine Dussart in France. The movie features mostly non-professional actors, and has been shot by FTII alumnus and Anhe Ghore Da Daan’s cinematographer Satya Rai Nagpaul.
Chauthi Koot.
Masaan (Crematorium), originally titled Flying Solo, has been written by Ghaywan and Varun Grover and co-produced by, among others, Sikhya Entertainment, Phantom Films and Manish Mundhra. The plot follows the lives of four people who live on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi. The cast includes Richa Chadha, Sanjay Mishra Vineet Kumar, Vicky Kaushal and Pankaj Tripathi. Ghaywan first shot to attention in 2011 with his award-winning short film Shor.
High-profile event
Both films have a good chance of getting critical attention and commercial interest because of the section in which they have been programmed. Although Un Certain Regard is not as prestigious as the Competition section, it is a respectable-enough parallel section to merit the attention of the industry insiders and the buyers who flock to Cannes every year in search of fresh and unusual storytelling talent. “Cannes has a very rigourous selection process and they look for strong voices across the world,” Gurvinder Singh said. “With Cannes, we will hopefully get distribution support and the film will travels to other festivals too.”
Several Indian films have been shown in Un Certain Regard since it was introduced in 1978. The first Indian film to be selected for this section was Mani Kaul’s Satah Se Uthata Aadmi in 1981. Subsequent selections include Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Elippathayam, Mrinal Sen’s Khandar, Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay!, Aribam Syam Sharma’s Ishanou, Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan, Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely and Kanu Behl’s Titli. Films shown in this section are eligible for a prize of 30,000 euros as well as for other prizes such as the Camera D’Or, given to the best first feature.