"I am the youngest filmstar in Cannes",trills Amala Shankar,resplendent in a golden sari,dangling a very nifty handbag. We are on the terrace of the theatre which shows the Cannes Classic Section. The sun is about to set,the view of the Riviera behind us is stunning,the restored print of 'Kalpana' is about to screen,and Amala ,all of 93,cannot stop beaming. The film,made by Uday Shankar in 1948,has been brought to life after four years of concerted efforts. Uday's brother,Ravi Shankar,got in touch with Martin Scorcese's World Cinema Foundation for support and funds. The film had been mouldering,like so many of our classics,for years,and it's successful showing at Cannes proves just one thing: that heritage needs preserving at any cost. Ad filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur's intervention has proved of immense value in getting past the hurdles that are required for a project of this nature,and he's right here,handing the film's leading lady on to the stage,where she holds forth,unstoppable. Her excitement is contagious,and we are all infected. Amala talks of her childhood in a tiny village in what is now Bangladesh,how she started dancing,how she met her husband Uday,and how he made Kalpana. And how she is here now,a citizen of the world. Her daughter,the actress Mamata,and daughter in law Anusree,are with her,basking in the shared glow. I'd seen the film years before at the National Archives in Pune. It was part of the exhaustive menu set up for us as visiting students,and it was badly scratched and cut. Now it has become a film you can see. And though it feels dated,there is no denying the relevance of this film,with its beautifully choreographed sequences: Uday Shankar was more a dancer and choreographer than a filmmaker. It is both reality and imagination,reflecting the social complexities of the newly formed India in the year that it was made,and looking forward to the nation that it would be: a magnificent paean to the idea of India. Judge Dredd again The other film I manage to see is diametrically opposite,set in a futuristic,dystopian universe where the planet has been carved in uninhabitable megacities,human life has less value than a rat's,a woman with a horrifically scarred face rules a gang who thinks nothing of skinning people alive,and the only one to stand between life and death is Judge Dredd. Last time around,Sly Stallone played the masked avenger,but the film tanked. This version scales everything up manifold,making the new 'Judge Dredd' a hyper -real hyper -violent ,head reeling experience. Mine was a sneak peek ( the film releases worldwide in September) through 3D glasses which I normally detest. But I have to say that this one used the technology well: the screen wasn't as dark as it usually gets. The Olympia theatre,right across from the Palais,is full,and the film lives up to the advance buzz,turning about to be the cinematic equivalent of a head-banger concert: urgent,relentless,fully on. And yes,the good guys win.
