We Cannes do it, say Indian filmmakers

MUMBAI: This year's Festival de Cannes holds special significance for India. After a gap of seven years, an Indian film has been officially selected for the festival and Indian studios are leaving no stone unturned in making their presence felt at the coveted film festival.
'Udaan', a co-production between UTV and Anurag Kashyap, is India's official entry to the Cannes film festival.Reliance Big Pictures, in an effort to showcase Mani Ratnam's 'Raavan' before an international audience, has organised a day-long programme that will start with a photo-call on Majestic Beach and end with a creme de la creme party at Carlton Hotel. The last Indian film to get an entry was Murli Nair's Malayalam film 'Arimpara'.
Sidharth Roy Kapur, CEO of UTV, said: "It is a matter of great pride for UTV that one of our movies is represented in the competition section there. We are planning a theatrical release in India in July. The response from overseas buyers at Cannes to Udaan's market-screenings has been overwhelming."
Another major initiative is the day-long celebration of 'Raavan'. Reliance Big Pictures, producer of the film, is putting together an itinerary, which will see Aishwarya and Abhishek walk the red carpet together. A special screening of the film will be held for buyers and distributors on Monday.
IM Global, a film sales company, will distribute both 'Raavan' and 'Kites' in the overseas market. Stuart Ford, CEO of the IM Global, said: "We will market both the films in non-traditional markets such as Latin America, Scandinavia, and Europe."