Anurag Kashyap Says India’s Cannes Obsession Is Focused on Red Carpet, Not Cinema

Anurag Kashyap has criticised India’s growing fixation with the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, saying the focus on celebrity appearances has overshadowed the festival’s core purpose — cinema.

Speaking to film critic and content creator Sucharita Tyagi at Cannes, Kashyap said discussions around the festival in India are dominated by fashion and visibility rather than filmmaking, screenings and global collaborations.

“In India, the problem and obsession with Cannes is only to walk the red carpet. They don’t understand there’s a festival and the purpose of it is beyond the red carpet,” he said.

The filmmaker, known for taking several of his films to international festivals, also dismissed the importance attached to celebrity red carpet moments. Referring to his own appearances at Cannes, Kashyap said, “No, we just move away from the side,” while explaining that he prefers entering screenings quietly instead of seeking attention.

‘Cinema Is the Most Important Part’

Kashyap said the real value of Cannes lies in discovering films, engaging with filmmakers and understanding global cinema trends. He argued that the festival’s cinematic aspect often gets ignored in India’s public discourse.

“The thing is, that’s the least important part of it. What is more important is the cinema and I don’t think people even come here for cinema. Even all the Indian people who are coming to the market are not watching films. Very rarely I see someone,” he said.

He also pointed to structural issues within the Indian film industry, claiming that misinformation and hesitation around festivals prevent many films from finding a place on international platforms.

“There’s a lot of misinformation in India and the producers fear festivals. So what happens is, they’re never in time, they’re delayed and even if the film had a chance to showcase itself at any of the categories, they lose that chance because they’re never in time,” Kashyap added.

Calls for Better Festival Strategy

During another conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India at Cannes, Kashyap said Indian filmmakers and producers need to rethink how they approach international film festivals and markets.

Discussing the growing presence of regional Indian cinema at Cannes, he said there are several Malayalam and Tamil films with strong festival potential, but many fail to gain visibility because of weak international strategy and outreach.

“There are so many films, especially from Kerala and indie films from Tamil, that can make it to festivals. But festivals don’t know about them. The strategising has to change,” he said.

Kashyap also questioned whether filmmakers are inviting the right distributors, sales agents and industry professionals to market screenings. According to him, festival participation often becomes an extension of domestic promotion rather than an effort to build meaningful global connections.

Exploring International Projects

At Cannes, Kashyap also revealed that he is exploring the possibility of directing international projects after years of turning down offers from outside India.

“I am meeting filmmakers who have forever been chasing me from outside India to make a film, and I’ve been saying no because I am such a Banarasi boy,” he said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India.

The filmmaker said he is now discussing whether his ideas can translate into stories made in foreign languages and different cultural settings. He cited Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi as an example of directors successfully working across industries and languages.

Kashyap also spoke about returning to a prolific writing phase. His current projects include writing dialogues for Vikramaditya Motwane’s Dada, along with scripts for filmmakers Luv Ranjan, Akiv Ali and Nikhil Mahajan.

Reflecting on his creative process, Kashyap said he has written two scripts for himself and plans to complete several more before directing another film.