MUMBAI: The 66th Cannes Film Festival in the idyllic town of Cannes, in France has already established a strong Bollywood connect, with a slew of Indian films and stars on offer.
The Festival de Cannes, as it is officially known, has kept in mind the centenary year of Indian cinema, and designed their May 2013 schedule around it.
The prestigious film festival will open with Baz Luhrmann’s celluloid adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 classic novel, ‘The Great Gatsby’ which features Bollywood’s very own Amitabh Bachchan in a prominent role, alongside Hollywood biggies like Leonardo Dicaprio and Tobey Maguire. On 15 May, the festival will open with ‘The Great Gatsby’ will be screened at the Grand Théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals, on 15 May.
Besides superstar Amitabh Bachchan, fans of Southern superstar Rajinikanth too have something to look forward to. The trailer of his much-awaited Tamil period film ‘Kochadaiyaan’ will be showcased, and the megalith himself will be present for the event.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan too will be seen at Cannes, honouring her long-standing association with the French film festival. The French Government has extended a special invitation to the gorgeous actress, who will be present as a guest of the French Ambassador Francois Richier himself.
And another very important and integral part of the festival will be the ‘Gala Screening, Tribute to India’ section, which will see the multi-director project ‘Bombay Talkies’ being screened. The anthology, directed by Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap is the official Indian selection for the festival, and will see a grand screening on 19 May.
Apart from ‘Bombay Talkies’ Indian filmmaker Amit Kumar’s ‘Monsoon Shootout’ will also be screened in the midnight, non-competition category.
Other big films to look forward to, which will premiere at the festival, include ‘La Venus a la Fourrure’ by director Roman Polanski, Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Bling Ring’, ‘As I Lay dying’ directed by Hollywood hunk James Franco.
