Embrace our personal stories: Pooja Hegde at Cannes 2022

CHENNAI: Actor Pooja Hegde who made her debut at the Cannes 2022 talked about representing India at the Inauguration of the India Pavilion, Marché du Film during the 75th Festival de Cannes.

The actress said, "Happy to be here, it has always been a dream to work at Cannes. Thank you Anurag sir for making this happen. I have not come with a brand, but I have come with the brand India, as a representative of India. That cannot be a big honour for me to be very honest, but to come as an Indian actor and to be celebrating Indian cinema is."

She added, "When I ventured into the Cannes journey, I actually looked up the history and we have all been celebrated each other one at Cannes for the best film and you know, it's funny, when sir talked about stories cause we have enough stories in India and if we look at what the west loves about India is Satyajit Ray's sir's films, whether it is The Apu Trilogy or whether it is a film like Nayak that is about the hero and his personal struggle and it is being shot so beautifully, it has got so many skills, so much craft and we have that kind of talent in India. We just need to stop aping the west and we need to embrace our personal stories, whether it is Charulata -- these are like films from India which have been celebrated across the globe.".

She also praised Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman and actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui and late Irrfan Khan for their excellent work in Indian cinema and for putting India on the map.

Before her speech, the actress who donned a casual outfit for her first day turned netizens in awe with an elegant look in a printed attire on her second day at the festival.

Meanwhile, Bollywood star Deepika Padukone expressed immense pride in representing India at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film festival as one of the jury members.

"I feel we have a long way to go as a country, I feel really proud to be here as an Indian and to be representing the country. But when we look back at 75 Years of Cannes, I have said earlier also that there have been only a handful of Indian films, and Indian talent that have been able to make it and I feel like collectively as a nation today we have it," she said on the 2nd day of the Cannes 2022 film festival.