[icernet] Bollywood Reaches Boiling Point at Cannes

[Arul Selvan]

  Has Bollywood cinema hit a critical mass outside its native India? 
That's the question on the minds of many industry-watchers at this 
year's Cannes Film Festival, where Indian actress Aishwarya Rai is 
making a high-profile appearance as a jury member, marking the first 
time an Indian actress has been thus honored. Encouraged by 
international interest in movies like "Monsoon Wedding" and "Lagaan," 
Indian film executives have boosted their presence this year. Last year, 
the festival screened "Devdas," a classic Indian story of doomed love 
that stars Rai.

About eight different Indian cinema companies teamed up together at a 
national pavilion. There, foreign movie executives can talk to 
producers, learn about buying Indian movies for their theaters or saving 
costs by filming in India.  For two years, Cannes' organizers have been 
paying more attention to Bollywood, Bombay's popular song-and-dance 
cinema, according to The Associated Press.  This time, organizers asked 
one of the movie's stars, Rai, to serve on the jury.  Last week, nearly 
400 people, including foreign movie executives, attended an Indian 
soiree in Cannes, a sign of growing interest.  Bollywood is the world's 
most prolific film industry, making about 800 movies a year.

Source:
http://www.zap2it.com/movies/news/story/0,1259,---17090,00.html

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The Indian Cannes Sutra
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20030602

The 56th Festival de Cannes has ended with its usual celebrations and a 
veritable feast of the best of world cinema. As for Indian cinema, 
Cannes 2003 is possibly a watershed: it marked the bowing out of 
'government' from centrestage, and the hardselling of India as a 
top-drawer international location.