Cannes 2011

Cannes Film Festival, arguably one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. All the big shots of world cinema attend it with much fanfare. The jury list each year consists of the most sought after people. From the most bizarre to the most entertaining films from around the globe are premiered. The tabloids overflow with photos from the red carpet to the award ceremonies to the after-parties.

Over the years, admirable film makers and actors from the Indian film industry like Shekhar Kapur, Nandita Das, Mira Nair, Mrinal Sen etc have been selected in the Jury list of this film festival. I have always wondered why there are almost zero Indian movies at this festival taking into account the record breaking numbers of films rolling out from the Indian film industry each year.

Of course Freida Pinto was seen there since she is the latest Indian muse in Hollywood. As a side note, personally it was shocking for me to see her as the face of Loreal since I always had her memories from Slumdog Millionaire, where she appeared not too good looking (at least to me). Maybe this was the target of Loreal to show the world how their makeup can make a below average looking girl into a diva. I can also understand for Aishwarya Rai to appear at Cannes since she had been a Jury once (long time back) but I really wonder under what makes Sonam Kapoor and Minissha Lamba appear there (given the films both have done so far). Now, it was still tolerable to see photos of FP, AR, SK, ML in the tabloids. But a Tsunami came and broke all my tolerance barriers when I saw that horse teeth Mallika Sherawat. And to my utter disbelief, when I saw her photos with Rober De Niro, Sean Penn, Jodie Foster etc, my brain stopped working and prompted me to write a post. I mean what in the world out of all the talented Indian actresses is "she" doing there ??? Here photos with these actors were like a 5th grader's art work kept next to Michelangelo's work at Louvre. Or even like a "bhoond/Maruta" (country-made vehicle to carry people in villages, particularly in Punjab/Haryana region) along side a BMW 7 series. I mean what are her credentials relating to cinema ??  A kitty full of flops ?? If breaking the records of on screen kisses in an Indian movie count as a credential then yes, sure she has surely made her mark there. Otherwise, the only other memory of her for me was that she was in news for a movie with Jackie Chan and some snake movie lately. I would agree to see Nagin/Nagina (starring Sridevi) again any day but there is hardly anything one can bribe me with, to watch Hisss. After seeing the promos, trust me, I have seen better computer graphics from a new computer science engineering graduate in India than what I saw in the promos. And I think, I must refrain myself from talking anything about her acting skills. It will be an insult to the actors of my town’s local Ramlila performed each year. So my question still remains still unanswered that what was MS doing at Cannes ?? Is there anyone who can give a valid answer ??