Cannes - My Experience Part 1/5

The Glitz and Glamor of Cannes – The Protagonist

After the results for Cannes Film Competition were announced, we were walking past the “Artists’ Entrance” on the back side of the Palais de Festival. We saw the press reporters standing there, waiting for stars. Before we realized how and why of it, we saw, Sophia Loren, Uma Thurman, Sofia Coppola, Gael Garcia Bernal, Asia Argento and likes coming out of that door, just a few feet away.

I did not feel star struck, I generally don’t.

 

And then SHE walked out of the entrance, in her shining blouse and a black skirt - Monica Bellucci.

A moment when mind goes blank and you realize the power of celebrities. She has grown old and her face has withered but still it made me remember everything from Malena to Matrix. Damn! I felt like Renato waiting for Malena with his little new cycle on his side, wanting to act like a grown up : A moment when you discover something unknown in yourself. It wasn’t for the first time that I was seeing a celebrity but it was differentJ. And Cannes Film Festival has this ability to surprise you with such moments every now and then. This was just one of the many moments that brought surprises.

A similar moment was when someone asked me to make some way to go through a crowded room. It was only when he was a feet away right in front of me, that I realized the little man was Kamal Hassan. You just feel short of words for moments like those.

 

When you first meet the festival de Cannes, it hits you with all its glitz and glamor. We met a humble good listener, Resul Pookutty right at the registration desk on our very first day and he chatted with us for quite some time. Evening at the premiere of Grace De Monaco, stars glittered all around – Alfonso Curon, Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Mallika Sherawat and Uday Chopra (Hell Yeah!).

 

As we basked in the glory of the place, walking in our black tuxedos and bow tie, in those 3-4 premieres we attended, we saw likes of Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts walking the same red carpet.

(In this post this is the only photo clicked by me. I have personally avoided taking clicks with celebrities. I am just too shy for that kind of stuff :))

 

And of course there were films that we watched along with the filmmakers. The best moment of the trip was watching Pulp-fiction on a huge screen at the beach along with Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman and John Travolta. And we watched the only Indian film there “Titli” along with the filmmakers. We were sitting next to Milind Soman, who was a part of the audience like us.

The standing ovations, the respect for filmmakers, the men in tuxedos and women in gowns are memories to keep. You will not remember how many times you have kissed in life, but you will always remember your first kiss. We kissed Cannes.