Sarabjit, is a movie starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Randeep Hooda, Darshan Kumar, Richa Chadha and one is of the most awaited biopics of recent times. This weekend the film premiers at the highly prestigious Cannes film festival. So Rai, along with director Omung Kumar and producers Bhushan Kumar, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh and Sandeep Singh will be seen walking the red carpet for the occasion. The film is yet to premier in India; the date for this being 20thMay here in India. Why is it that so many films premier in Cannes and other international venues; sometimes well before the Indian release?
Do international venues help promote a film?
The answer to that would undoubtedly be yes, because an international screening draws attention from the world media and not just the Indian media. The audience of the film is also far more varied and the film benefits from positive responses from the film fraternity, all over the world. This is particularly important for films that have lesser known actors, or films that are considered offbeat. The sort of pre-release publicity that the film can garner at international venues would likely help revenue generation in India.
Masaan an Indo-French production premiered at Cannes last year, sparking a great deal of buzz and also bagged a couple of awards. The fact that this off-beat film with the rather grim subject did as well as it did, may have had something to do with this Cannes performance. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s return vehicle, Jazbaa was also launched at Cannes last year, which probably did not harm the fortunes of the film. Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur premiered at Cannes, and the sight of the gamcha-wearing team on the prestigious red carpet is another example of the sort of positive publicity Cannes engenders.
Other possible reasons why filmmakers like Cannes
Indian filmmakers probably enjoy hobnobbing with others from various international film fraternities. It would likely be an educative and informative experience to not only rub shoulders with people of various nationalities but also get feedback for their work from them. Small budget films which may be a labour of love for their makers may possibly get a positive response that can be very valuable back home.
And then there is the issue of censorship. Iranian filmmakers display their work because it may be banned back home; similarly Indian filmmakers have the freedom to present their art as originally visualized rather than cinema that has been pared down to what is deemed ‘appropriate’ by the censor board’s prudish, easily offended scissors.
So while our public is interested mainly to see what the press gushingly informs us about what Aishwarya wore on the red carpet, at least more people will be interested to go watch Sarabjit when it releases in Indian theatres next week.
Author – Reena Daruwalla
