Nawazuddin Siddiqui says attending Cannes just to be seen walking the red carpet is an India-specific problem: ‘People from other countries…’

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that he would never attend the Cannes Film Festival unless he had a film that was being screened there.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | June 2, 2023 02:09 PM IST

3 min read

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been at the Cannes Film Festival nine times. (Photo: Reuters)

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Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui spoke about the Indian contingent at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival, and expressed disappointment that very few Indians attended the prestigious event to sample films, but were more interested in walking the red carpet to get noticed. In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Nawazuddin said that this is an India-specific ‘problem’.

When it was suggested to him that the Cannes Film Festival has started to resemble the Met Gala, and that casual observers are more familiar with what clothes celebrities wore than which films were screened, the actor said in Hindi, “This is a problem with our generation, and it’s an India-specific problem. Look at people from other countries, they go there to savour the films, they’re obsessed with cinema. They’re completely updated about what’s happening in the world of films.”

Also read | Nawazuddin Siddiqui says it’s easy to take your movie to Cannes Film Festival: ‘Hire an auditorium unofficially, lay your red carpet, gather people’

Asked if he’d like to go to Cannes as a delegate or representative, he said, “I’ll never go. I didn’t go this year as well. Why would I? I’ll only go if a film of mine has been officially selected. The last time I went, I’d been invited by the government.” He said that attending the festival with a film that has been officially selected can give a person a great ‘sense of achievement’, and it is an honour to showcase one’s talent before the world world, espcially audiences that appreciate good cinema.

Nawazuddin has attended the festival on a handful of occasions; his films Monsoon Shootout, Gangs of Wasseypur and Raman Raghav 2.0 were all a part of the official selection. This year, his frequent collaborator Anurag Kashyap attended the festival with one of the few Indian selections, Kennedy. Director Kanu Bahl also attended the fest with his new film, Agra. Indian celebrities who walked the red carpet this year were Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mrunal Thakur, Urvashi Rautela, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sara Ali Khan and Anushka Sharma.

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