Payal Kapadia recently reflected upon the comments made by Anurag Kashyap some time back about how India doesn’t support independent cinema. She said that there is a need to have structural changes in the film industry. When Payal’s film All We Imagine As Light won the Grand Prix at Cannes, Anurag had said that it was not a victory for India but for the filmmaker.
Speaking to News18, Payal said, “To be honest, I don’t know what can bring about change. We need structural changes in the industry, opportunities for independent filmmakers, grants that they can apply for or some kind of support system. The bigger question is, how do you distribute a film like that? That’s why I’m very happy that Spirit Media is distributing my film. It’s a great thing for me that an independent film like All We Imagine As Light will get distributed and be shown in so many cities.”
She was also asked if she feels her victory would lead to change, to which she replied, “It’s still too early to say anything because independent filmmaking takes a lot of time. You would want to raise funds to tell the kind of stories you want and have a certain kind of creative freedom and that involves a lot of steps. Having said that, I’m okay with the time this entire process takes. Also, it would also be great if those in mainstream also take some time out to support independent films. At the end of the day, we co-exist in the same industry.”
In an interview to PTI after Cannes 2024, Anurag said, “I get very upset when it’s said ‘India@Cannes’. This is a boost… a shot in the arm for a lot of independent filmmakers but their victory is their own. India didn’t have any moment at Cannes, not a single of those films are Indian. We need to address it the way it should be addressed. India has stopped supporting such cinema, the kind of cinema that was at Cannes.”
He added that India just takes credit when films make it big internationally. “…they do not support these films, and they don’t even support these films to have a release in cinema. Stop taking credit for it. Let’s stop this fake celebration… Even if the film is released, no one will go to watch it in the theatre,” he said.