Saturday, April 23, 2011

Cannes festival to celebrate Bollywood

The prestigious Cannes Film Festival will celebrate the success and wonder of Bollywood in its 64th edition beginning next month.

'Bollywood, The greatest love story ever told', a feature film produced by Shekhar Kapoor and UTV Motion Pictures exclusively for the Festival de Cannes, will be screened during the festival that runs from May 11 to May 22. The film will be shown out of competition.


The film is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and American documentary filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist. Mehra had written and directed the 2006 Bollywood blockbuster 'Rang de Basanti'.

According to Cannes festival authorities, the origin of 'Bollywood, The greatest love story ever told', could be traced back to a conversation with Shekhar Kapoor, a member of the Cannes jury in 2010.

The question then was: Why not make a film that brings together the most beautiful moments in the history of Indian musical films, with all their moving pageantry and dance? "A few months later, there was 'Bollywood, The greatest love story ever told', a Cannes festival release said today while announcing the selection of the film.

The 81-minute film is said to be a swirling and poignant montage in which Shekhar Kapoor, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Jeff Zimbalist pay tribute to this cinema genre that has contributed to establishing India's identity in the eyes of the world and to making Mumbai one of the world capitals of film history.