Sunny Leone in a still from Kennedy teaser. (courtesy: YouTube)
Cannes:
The 2023 Cannes Film Festival is right around the corner and the Indian cinema is already creating a buzz. At this year’s festival, several Indian films will be screened including director Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy and actor Rahul Roy’s Agra. Let’s talk about them in detail.
Kennedy
Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’ has been selected as part of the Midnight Screenings section of the festival, which will take place from May 16-27. In April, the official Twitter handle of the Cannes Film Festival announced the selection of Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’ in the Midnight Screenings section of the festival. “KENNEDY by Anurag KASHYAP #SeanceDeMinuit / #MidnightScreenings #Cannes2023,” read the post. ‘Kennedy’ stars Sunny Leone, Rahul Bhatt and Abhilash Thapliyal.
Coming from the house of Zee Studios and Good Bad Films, Kennedy is essentially a police noir film, by Anurag Kashyap. The film revolves around an insomniac ex-cop, long thought to be dead, but still operating for the corrupt system, and looking for redemption. The film stars Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone in the lead roles and has been selected for a Midnight Screening at Cannes Film Festival 2023.
Sharing details about it, Anurag Kashyap said, “It’s a film and genre I always wanted to explore. It’s more polar than noir, inspired by crime writing of Patrick Manchette and his comic book collaborations with Jacques Tardi, and the cinema of Melville. It’s also a deeply personal crime/police drama and am so grateful to Zee Studios, Shariq and team, Neeraj, Bhumika, my producers Ranjan, Kabir and Kavan, my whole team, my partners in crime Sylver, Kazvin, Prashant who helped me shape it. Rahul Bhat who gave 8 months of his life, Sunny Leone who took on the challenge of it, Mohit Takalkar for taking it on…am just grateful at the moment.”
Agra
Agra, starring Rahul Roy, will have its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival. Written and directed by Kanu Behl, the Hindi film is produced by Saregama India Ltd, UFO Production, and O28 Films.
Agra has an ensemble cast headlined by Aashiqui star Rahul Roy, who makes a comeback with this film. It also features Priyanka Bose (actor of the Oscar-nominated film Lion), debut actor Mohit Agarwal, Ruhani Sharma, and veteran actors Vibha Chibber, Sonal Jha, and Aanchal Goswami in pivotal roles.
The film is an exploration of sexual dynamics within a family and the deep dystopian fractures created in modern India that are fast shrinking into pigeon-holed spaces.
Ishanou
Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma’s award-winning film of 1990 Ishanou will be screened at Cannes this year. It has been officially selected for a red-carpet world premiere on May 19, 2023 at the prestigious Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival 2023. This restored film becomes the only Indian film to be considered under the Classic Section of the Cannes Film Festival this year, a segment that celebrates restored versions of all-time classics.
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