Indian ripple in cinematic ocean

CHENNAI: The 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival that kicked off this week is one of the most glamorous and prestigious celebrations of cinema in the international film circuit. India has had a long association with this festival, which is among the big three European film fests, along with Berlin and Venice. Back in 1946, when the French film festival rebranded itself post World War II, Neecha Nagar became the first Indian film to be honoured at Cannes. The socio-realistic film shared the top prize (Best Film award), with 11 of the 18 films that competed in this category.

The top prize was then known as the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film award, while today it’s known as the Palme d’Or or the Golden Palm. It’s ironic that the only Indian film to be ever awarded the top prize at the festival never saw the light of a projector on Indian screens as it was never released here. Subsequently, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1956) bagged the Best Human Document award (Prix du Document Humain) at the 9th edition of the festival, followed by Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay (1998), which won the Best First Feature and Audience Prize.

More recently, The Lunchbox (2013) bagged the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award, while Payal Kapadia’s A Night of Knowing Nothing won the Best Documentary Prize last year. It is a little odd that a nation that prides itself in churning out nothing short of 1,500 to 2,000 movies every year in over 20 languages, finds itself wanting when it comes to collating films considered worthy of a global audience, to be sent to compete in such reputed film fests. India’s output is greater than the movies produced in nations like the US, and Canada where the number hovers at around 700-odd films every year. An industry-specific study released a few years ago had pegged the growth of the Indian film business at about 11.5% annually, while the gross realisation was set to touch Rs 24,000 cr ($3.7 bn) in 2020.

In 2017, the gross revenue of the Indian film industry was estimated to be Rs 13,800 cr or $2.1 bn. In spite of these mind boggling numbers, the sector is beset by challenges on the regulatory front. Shooting a film in India requires a filmmaker to obtain at least 70 approvals and licences from close to 30 authorities. Any delay in obtaining these permits could send a producer into a downward spiral of bankruptcy, thanks to the cost of equipment and labour.

Also, for the longest time, India had been squandering away opportunities to ensure the long-term preservation of its glorious cinematic heritage, made up of not only popular cinema, but small-budget, independently produced arthouse features. In the aftermath of appeals of several stakeholders within the industry, non-profits based out of India, and foreign filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, India has embarked upon the world’s largest film restoration project.

The initiative, which falls under the National Film Heritage Mission, has a budget of Rs 597 cr earmarked for it, and it will be channelled towards giving a new lease of life to about 2,200 Indian films. The National Film Archive of India which is part of this mission is also planning to restore 10 films directed by Ray, which will be sent for screening at international fests. While it is encouraging to see that India is recognising the cultural importance of homegrown cinema in the global pantheon of filmmaking, it’s essential that both the government and private enterprises work in tandem to remove the bureaucratic bottlenecks in the creative process.