Neeraj Ghaywan’s last claim to fame, was as an assistant director to Anurag Kashyap in the two-part Gangs Of Wasseypur. However, the protege has moved on since then and has been making quite a lot of noise at the recently-concluded edition of the Cannes Film Festival. His debut feature ‘ Masaan ‘ won the FIPRESCI award and another award for the ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival.
The film was given a 5-minute standing ovation on the conclusion of the screening, which moved the director and it’s leading lady Richa Chaddha to tears. The overwhelming response was unexpected, since the film did not feature any heavyweights apart from Richa Chaddha and Sanjay Mishra, and this was the director’s debut feature film.
The director was overjoyed with the reaction and couldn’t help but tweet about his happiness, thanking his mentor Anurag Kashyap and his team.
#MASAAN just won the FIPRESCI award for UN CERTAIN REGARD at @Festival_Cannes !!!!! This was long due for India!!!
— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 23, 2015 2nd award for India!! #MASAAN MOST PROMISING NEW COMER! See @anuragkashyap72 what your mentorship has got me to! pic.twitter.com/ToQ7IQjzrw
— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 23, 2015 Even Richa Chaddha tweeted about her happiness with Masaan ‘ s wins at #Cannes2015 in a very unconventional manner.
To all those who said I shouldn’t work in ‘low budget arty films’,PFA my revert. (PARDON MY FRENCH) #MasaanAtCannes pic.twitter.com/g4F8WKc8LH
— RichaChadha (@RichaChadha_) May 23, 2015 A successful outing for the Indian contingent as news just comes in that Tamil-French movie Dheepan has won the Palm d’Or. May the excellent word of mouth translate into money for these films.
Feature Image source: Celine Petit
