Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' has to settle for a Grand Prix

Cannes, May 25 So near, yet so far. Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' came home with the Grand Prix, but not the Palme d'Or, from the glittering awards event that brought the curtains down on the 77th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night.

Still, it was a big moment for Indian cinema, for it was in as far back as 1994 that the prestigious competition section of the festival featured an Indian film -- Shaji Karun's 'Swaham', which did not win any award.

Hailed by the BBC as a "magical ode to nocturnal Mumbai", 'All We Imagine As Light' has been described as "a delicate triple portrait of women who have devoted their lives to helping others, but have received precious little in return in terms of money, status or freedom."

As would be expected from a Payal Kapadia film, it makes a strong political statement as well by showing one of the characters, a Hindu, nurturing a relationship with a young Muslim man.

The film's climax, in more than one way, is the scene of them making love in a forest near the beach town where the three lead characters decide to have a little break.

The stars of the Indian-French co-production are Kani Kusruti, who audiences outside Kerala would identify as the one who plays the strong-willed personal secretary of Huma Qureishi's character in 'Maharani', Chhaya Kadam, last seen bringing the house down with her stellar performance in 'Laapataa Ladies', and Divya Prabha.

Kapadia, who's acclaimed artist Nalini Malini's daughter and graduate of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), won the Golden Eye at Cannes in 2021 for her politically incendiary debut documentary, 'A Night of Knowing Nothing'.

The jury for the competition films was presided over by the 'Barbie' hitmaker Greta Gerwig. Its members included J.A. Bayona, Spanish filmmaker; Ebru Ceylan, Turkish actress and screenwriter; Pierfrancesco Favino, Italian actor-producer; 'Killers of the Flower Moon' star Lily Gladstone; Eva Green, French actress; Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda; Nadine Labaki, Lebanese actress and filmmaker; and French actor Omar Sy.

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