'The Lunchbox' to 'Masaan': Top Indian films that won big at Cannes over the years

It's been 75 years since the Cannes Film Festival was commemorated in the French city. Over the last few years, the global festival has been witnessing artists from across the world showcase their films. From major red carpet appearances to various mind-blowing films, the festival has always managed to steal the limelight. 

India, every year, has a strong representation at the festival mainly due to several iconic stars like Aishwarya Rai, Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and more eminent personalities have been the veterans of the festival with their appearance on the red carpet each year. 

But apart from the red carpet fashion, only a few Indian films have earned the honour at Cannes Film Festival. As the Cannes Film festival 2022 opens, we have curated a list of all the top Indian films that won awards at the festival in the past. 

Masaan

The 2015 film by Neeraj Ghaywan features Richa Chadha, Vicky Kaushal, and Shweta Tripathi in key roles, and won two prizes at Cannes 2015- FIPRESCI, International Jury of Film Critics prize, and Promising Future prize in the Un Certain Regard section. The film deals with the issues of a casteist society and shows the tragic love story between a lower caste boy and an upper-caste girl. 

The Lunchbox

Director Ritesh Batra's 2013 unusual love story of a lonesome bachelor and equally lonely and unhappy housewife tugs the heartstrings of viewers across. The film starring Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Awards at the film festival. 

Salaam Bombay

Director Mira Nair's 1988 film won her the prestigious Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film festival. The film depicts the daily lives of children living in slums in Bombay (now Mumbai), India's largest city. It stars Shafiq Syed, Raghuvir Yadav, Anita Kanwar, Nana Patekar, Hansa Vithal and Chanda Sharma.

Kharij

The 1983 Bengali film by Mrinal Sen won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes 1983. The movie tells the story of a middle-class family whose child servant, Palan is found dead in their kitchen, and their efforts to pacify his grieving father. 

Marana Simhasana

Directed by Mirali Narayan, the 1999 Malayalam film also won the prestigious Camera d'Or. A deeply haunting film on the class divide, the film is the story of a farmer who is wrongly implicated and jailed for a murder he has not committed and has been sentenced to electrocution- a first in his state. 

A Night Of Knowing Nothing 

Amid all the great films that won big at the global event, Payal Kapadia's 2021 documentary won the Oeil d'Or for the Best Documentary at the festival. The story of the film follows the life of a university student at the Film and Television Institute of India who writes a letter to her estranged boyfriend, after they are separated when he is forced to quit film school and denied permission from his family to continue dating her because she is not of the same caste.

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