India returns to Cannes with Neeraj Ghayawan's 'Homebound'

The first edition of Cannes would have happened in September 1939, but with Hitler's forces invading Poland and the outbreak of World War II, the festival had to be put off till September 20, 1946

- GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN

India has always had a blow-hot-blow-cold affair with the Cannes Film Festival, whose 78th edition begins on May 13 on the divinely scenic French Riviera – once the playground for the rich, the beautiful and the famous. Let us not forget that it was here that fairy tales unfolded. One of them was between the extraordinarily beautiful American actress, Grace Kelley and the Prince of Monaco, Prince Rainer, a tiny principality within France.

This year, India returns to Cannes with Neeraj Ghayawan's 'Homebound'. It will play during the 12-day Festival's 'Un Certain Regard', the second most important category after Competition. Ghayawan's debut feature, 'Masaan', was also selected for the 'Un Certain Regard' in 2015 and it won the 'Special Prize'. Last year, Sanjay Suri's 'Santosh' was part of this section.

Last year saw India's Payal Kapadia arriving at the Croisette (Cannes' beachfront with its Palace where the festival takes place) with her story of two lonely nurses in Mumbai, 'All We Imagine As Light'. It competed at the festival and won the second-highest award after Palm d'Or – the Grand Prix. The Cannes Competition was seeing an Indian entry after three decades, the last to vie being the late Shaji N Karun's 'Swaham' in 1994.