Red-carpet no longer exclusive!
Meera Chopra, Hina Khan, Helly Shah, Diipa Khosla, Maasoom Minawala, Rahi Chaddha and many more were among the Indians who walked the Red Carpet at Cannes 2022. These names may not be familiar to the average movie-goer who is perhaps wondering how come th
India was named the official ‘country of honour’ at the French Riviera. While biggies like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Deepika Padukone walked the red carpet this year – the former representing L'Oréal and the latter as a jury member – the lesser-known names were also present. If you are wondering how they were present at a prestigious event, well, each one of them were representing different brands.
The festival has changed over years, and the red carpet is not the exclusive turf of an elite list anymore.
“From being a pure film festival, Cannes has become a celebrity event. It was more important to strut around and watch some films. Then it became a fashion extravaganza. It was all about who is wearing what and made by whom. This was a terrific branding opportunity, so today with the advent of OTT and a new crop of actors, not necessarily stars, brands are using the platform to convert the actors into stars and in the process get eyeballs for themselves. Oh yes! Films are still screened and awards are still given. But that’s now a side show,” says former Lowe and JWT operative Vikas Mehta, a brand expert and marketing communications professional.
“The Cannes Film Festival has strong films, but often, media hype takes over on irrelevant issues. I’m not asked about the films at Cannes, but to comment on — and thus help create more hot air about — people who don’t have a film in Cannes at all. So instead of being part of the problem, I’ll just say I’m grateful to be South Asia Delegate for the Berlin Film Festival. The main festival is usually in February, when it’s too cold to obsess about fashion. So yes, we have a glamorous red carpet, but the focus remains firmly on the
films,” says Meenakshi Shedde, independent curator.
Earlier, attending the Cannes Film Festival was about the movies alone. It was a platform where films would be selected for a competition and the participants would attend the festival. Soon, showcasing began at the festival and important makers across the world were attending the festival. It was attended by auteurs and thespians, like
Shyam Benegal and Goutam Ghose.
Benegal went with
Smita Patil and Shabana
Azmi for the 1975 edition of the festival with their film