Actress Chhaya Kadam at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. | Photo Credit: chhaya.kadam.75/Instagram
The jig was one of the most photographed moments on the Cannes red carpet this year. We all imagine ourselves as light With the team at the premiere. Actor Chaaya Kadam says it was a sign that the film, the first by an Indian director in 30 years to be selected for competition at the festival, would win big.
And it did. Payal Kapadia’s meditative film about two Kerala nurses in Mumbai won the Grand Prix, the second-highest honour at Cannes after the top prize, the Palme d’Or (won by Sean Baker). Anora,
“I am so happy that I have no words for it,” Kadam told PTI over phone from Cannes. That red carpet moment is etched in her memory and in the history of Indian cinema forever. Kadam, who plays one of the three lead roles in the film along with Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha, doesn’t remember who started dancing first.
“I am not sure at this point, but maybe it was me,” she said. “Someone called up from Mumbai and joked, ‘You were dancing like you were dancing in the courtyard of your own house.’ I was like, ‘Why not?‘Being part of the main competition after 30 years is a huge achievement, let alone the award we won. Why follow the protocol? This is how we show our happiness, by jumping around“This is how we show our happiness, by dancing,” Kadam said.
He said, “When we stood up to take pictures, the photographers also requested us to keep dancing. There was a lot of joy all around.” He also said that he heard a Marathi song. Pink Saree This song was playing when she got out of her car for the premiere.
The Indo-French co-production was touted as a leading film after it received rave reviews in the international press following its grand release.
The story of the Malayalam-Hindi feature revolves around Prabha, a Mumbai nurse whose life is turned upside down when she inherits a rice cooker from her estranged husband. Anu, her roommate and colleague, is struggling to find a secluded place in the city with her boyfriend. Prabha’s best friend Parvati (Kadam), a widow, is thrown out of her house by property developers.
Kani Kusruti, Chaaya Kadam, Payal Kapadia and Divya Prabha pose with the Grand Prix Award for ‘All We Imagine as Light’ at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 25, 2024. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Kadam, who is known for his films such as ‘Kahaani’, … Lapata Ladies And Madgaon Expresssaid at work We all imagine… He realized the importance of breaking the rules.
He said, “I think we should break the rules and make our own rules. That’s what this film has taught me and what a great film it is! I first saw it at the Cannes premiere. It is the story of our land, our soil. We should make more such stories. I don’t know why we don’t. We may not have much, but whatever we have is of great value.”
Kapadia also became the first Indian female filmmaker to win the award at Cannes, known for discovering emerging talent from across the world and giving them wide exposure.
“Payal is amazing. All these pictures that are coming out, she has made this possible by taking us along. I remember when the award was announced, we were waiting for Payal to come on stage, but she took us along with her.
“She is like that. She kept saying that this film is about all of us. That is what she has shown in the film as well, the friendship between three women of different ages,” Kadam said.
In a post on Instagram, Kadam wrote that the sari she wore for her first performance at Cannes was a tribute to her late mother. The nose ring she wore for most of her performances also belonged to her mother.
Also read:Oscar winner Resul Pookutty praises Payal Kapadia’s Cannes win: ‘Mainstream Indian film industry had nothing to do with it’
“My mother passed away in August last year and one of my dreams that remained unfulfilled was that I would never be able to take her on a trip by plane.
“I started earning quite late, everything got delayed. I was hopeful that I would be able to do it, but they left me. So, when I was there, although I had bought a different outfit, I felt I should wear my mother’s sari because she would have worn that sari in Cannes if she were alive.”
