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               Indian Cinema on Mission to Dispel Bollywood Image

   by Reuters

   Indian movie actors and a new wave of directors are on a mission at the
   Cannes film festival - to show that their industry, which turns 100
   this year, is more than just Bollywood.
   The largest Indian contingent to date is on the French Riviera at the
   world's leading cinema showcase to promote their country, which has the
   world's biggest film industry, making over 1,000 films a year compared
   to about 600 in Hollywood.
   Movies from Mumbai-based Bollywood and other regional India films have
   struggled at the global box office with Indian cinema largely dismissed
   as lengthy, song-and-dance numbers.
   But the industry sees the 66th Cannes festival, where India is "guest
   country" to mark its centenary, as a chance to showcase a new genre of
   Indian movies globally and to promote India as a place to both make
   films and win a massive audience.
   "If you use the term Bollywood it really represents the song-and-dance,
   credibility-stretched story kind of film," director Amit Kumar, whose
   gangster-cop thriller "Monsoon Shootout" held its premiere at Cannes on
   Sunday, told Reuters. "We need to portray Indian cinema as more
   international and I hope our presence at Cannes will make the world
   realise that Indian cinema is most than just about Bollywood."
   The Indian visitors to Cannes are also keen to lure investment to their
   film industry, which is forecast to grow to $5 billion by 2014 from
   $3.2 billion in 2010, according to a report by Ernst & Young.
   India's presence has been high-profile since the start of the 12-day
   festival with acting legend Amitabh Bachchan on the red carpet on
   opening night to mark his Hollywood debut in Baz Luhrmann's ``The Great
   Gatsby'' alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
   Actress Vidya Balan also walked the red carpet in the pouring rain that
   night as one of nine members of a jury led by U.S. filmmaker Steven
   Spielberg that will decide the coveted Palme D'Or award for best
   picture on the final day, May 26.
   A gala dinner to mark Indian cinema's centenary was due to be held on
   Sunday and attended by a list of stars including actresses Aishwarya
   Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and Freida Pinto.
   'Shackles'
   There is no Indian film in either of the two main competitions at
   Cannes. The last Indian film selected to vie for the coveted Palme D'Or
   was "Swaham" in 1994 while "Udaan" competed in Un Certain Regard for
   emerging filmmakers in 2010.
   But four Indian films will be screened - "Monsoon Shootout", another
   thriller "Ugly", a tribute to the industry centenary called "Bombay
   Talkies", and love story "Dabba" (Lunchbox).
   Anupama Chopra, Bollywood author, columnist and critic, said Bollywood
   was a tag that independent film-makers had to fight. "Maybe one day
   (Indian filmmakers) will break free of the shackles of Bollywood and
   make a completely global film in terms of aesthetics," he said.
   In 2011 India saw a 42 percent jump in the number of Hollywood movies
   shot there with several Hollywood studios such as Disney, News Corp's
   Fox, and Sony entering deals with or buying stakes in Indian companies.
   There has also been a surge in the number of Hollywood movies released
   in India, where 3.6 billion film tickets were sold last year. Hollywood
   studios have been releasing their films in India simultaneously with
   their North American releases and also dubbing films in various
   regional Indian languages.
   Uma Da Cunha, program advisor at the 2012 Mumbai Film Festival, said
   studios wanted a slice of the huge Indian market. "The big and
   significant change in Cannes is that the Indian film industry is being
   given space and attention on the international film scene and it is
   attracting business and ties from global film interests," she told
   Reuters.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/india-cinema-cannes-bollywood-image/1664182.html