The eyecatching India Cannes 2002 logo finds prominent display in her office: a French summer quite obviously is top of the mind. Union I&B minister Sushma Swaraj is all set to lead a 40-member delegation. Her star-studded company includes Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Yash Chopra, Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Subhash Ghai, Shekhar Kapur and Smita Thackeray, among others. In its biggest participation in Cannes, India showcases seven movies: Bhansali's
Tridip Poddar's
Manish Jha's
Manu Rewal's
three Raj Kapoor movies
and
in the Homage to Prince of Bollywood section.
If '01 saw individual global successes like
and
then in '02 it's the government's turn to launch a cinematic offensive on the world; Cannes may well be a beginning. Excerpts from an interview with Namrata Joshi:
Why
such a huge splash at Cannes?
How does this year mark a departure from our previous Cannes outings?
What will be the festival highlights?
Devdas
Devdas
Khoj
Aamir Khan's aggressive promotion of Lagaan showed how marketing matters. How are you addressing the need?
But the thrust at Cannes seems to be on our commercial films...
Why a sudden interest from the government in the film industry?
Is the craze for Indian cinema abroad genuine or a passing fad?
But isn't there a danger here of neglecting our own markets?
How do you intend taking the Cannes effort forward?
Humko to sirf dhakka lagana hai
