The recent historic Cannes Film Festival grand prix win of Payal Kapadia has been criticized by Indian actor Ali Fazal who mentioned that it was hypocritical for the FTII to celebrate her success. On Sunday, FTII’s official social media account expressed pride in its alumni, Payal Kapadia and Chidanand Naik, for their achievements at Cannes.
In the midst of legal proceedings with FTII meanwhile celebrating Grand Prix win at Cannes 2024 by Piyush Gupta: “Uhhh… please don’t”
However, Ali Fazal wasn’t impressed. He reposted FTII’s message with a blunt response, “Uhhh… please don’t. Just don’t.”
Please Uhhh… just do not. Don’t even think about doing so. https://t.co/UcBzjUp4GO
— Ali Fazal M / میر علی فضل / अली (@alifazal9) May 26, 2024
For those who are not aware, In 2015 as several reports suggest that this student then a film school student at FTII had taken a strong stand against Gajendra Chauhan becoming the president of the institute because he was an actor-turned-politician. The students argued that someone like Chauhan neither had the right academic nor artistic credentials to head such a prestigious film institution.
Some disciplinary actions were taken against some students including Kapadia alike which led to Pune Police filing chargesheet against 35 students including Kapadia among others for holding then-director Prashant Pathrabe captive in his office but he is currently out on bail. Even scholarship were also withheld from certain protestors.
FTII seemed to acknowledge this past in its new regime under Bhupendra Kainthola in 2017 when they issued a letter of support to Kapadia and even funded her trip to Cannes Film Festival where her short film, Afternoon Clouds was screened. As of now, the case is still in court and its next hearing is slated for June 2024. Interestingly, Kapadia’s recent win at the Cannes Film Festival has brought renewed attention to the ongoing legal case.
According to Deadline, Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light received an eight-minute standing ovation during its premiere. It was shot over 40 days and captures Mumbai’s late summer before moving on into a coastal Ratnagiri. Additionally, All We Imagine As Light is a French-Indian co-production involving Paris-based producers Hakim and Julien Graff (Petit Chaos), along with Zico Maitra of Chalk & Cheese Films located in Mumbai.
Not only did the film receive a roaring standing ovation, but the red carpet was a joyous affair with the entire team – Ranabir Das, Julien Graff, Hridhu Haroon, Chhaya Kadam, Divya Prabha, Payal Kapadia, Kani Kusruti, Zico Maitra and Thomas Hakim – dancing and celebrating together..
According to the official Cannes website, this film is presented in both Malayalam and Hindi and tells the story of Nurse Prabha’s life in Mumbai which gets disrupted by an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. This spontaneous act disrupts her daily routine. Sharing a small apartment with her roommate Anu who is younger than she is, Anu frantically seeks personal space to be together with her boyfriend. The town offers no solace; thus they imbibe fantasies of escape. Anu finally finds the intimacy she has been longing for after visiting a calm beach town during weekends. Their desires find room to blossom under blue sky, free from limitations imposed on them by Mumbai.
In 2021, Payal Kapadia’s documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing gained worldwide acclaim after it premiered at Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section and subsequently won its best documentary feature-film category as per the Golden Eye award.
