This is his second time at the Cannes Film Festival as a part of the Indian delegation, and Madhur Bhandarkar is “thrilled” to be back. The filmmaker tells us, “It is a great way to meet people from across the world. I always say that Cannes is the mother of all film festivals!”

One of the highlights of his current visit, he shares, was getting to meet Hollywood star Michael Douglas. “It was absolutely a big fan moment for me,” he says, adding, “A friend introduced me to Michael sir at the India Pavilion. We’ve grown up watching Michael Douglas films. We kept talking about and recapping all his great films, like Basic Instinct (1992) and Wall Street. He is very gracious; such a great personality!”

The India Lockdown (2022) director, who last attended the festival in 2019, feels India’s imprint on the global map is only growing with each passing year. “For instance, at the India Pavillion, (politician) Kushboo Sundar, (actors) Sara Ali Khan and Vijay Varma, producer Guneet Monga and Dr L Murugan (Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting) spoke about how India has left a strong mark globally, especially over the last 10 years. In terms of the kind of cinema we are making, the world saw how RRR (2022) and Naatu Naatu (Oscar-winning song) caught attention. And here at Cannes also, when I interacted with people, I got a phenomenal response on Naatu Naatu. So, people are talking and are curious about the kind of cinema and content we make. The surge of OTT has also been huge,” Bhandarkar shares.

Beaming with pride, he adds, “I have been a very frequent visitor of film festivals across the globe. From the time I started making films, I have been in the juries as well. And I have seen that we are the biggest production house in the world, when it comes to cinema.”