Anupama Chopra’s Cannes-do list

The year Keanu Reeves reinvented the archetypal action hero by causing a glitch in the matrix and American Beauty brought an entire generation to puberty was the same year that film critic Anupama Chopra first attended the Festival de Cannes. It was 1999 and Chopra couldn’t have known how popular this prestigious arthouse film festival would become in the years to come.

“This year, it felt like there were even more people, if that’s even possible,” says Chopra, who returned to Mumbai last night. “It felt that the numbers in Cannes multiplied manifold because there was no table to be got at any restaurant for lunch or dinner, and the queues were incredibly long for every screening that I attended.”  

Every attendee—whether a star in a gown or the star's entourage, or the eager hands that made Cannes a hotspot for long standing ovations—will attest to the fact that Cannes is insanely busy. “I go there for the movies, so there’s no time to relax. It’s just eight or nine days of watching everything I can from 8:30 am to however late I can last,” says Chopra, who, in 2008, was on Cannes’ coveted Un Certain Regard jury. 

Here, she turns jury for The Nod, handpicking her favourite movies and performances, from should-have-been-blockbusters to must-be-lead actors. Scroll below for Anupama Chopra’s ultimate watch list from Cannes 2024.

A film that deserves a standing ovation: Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard.

An actor who made me cry: Smita Patil in Shyam Benegal’s Manthan, which showed in Cannes Classics. Her fierce talent and beauty sears the screen. 

An actor who made me laugh out loud: Radhika Apte in Sister Midnight and Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness.

A film I had a hard time sitting through: Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada! 

A debutante who won my heart: Nykiya Adams in Bird.

A supporting actor I’d like to see in the lead: Hridhu Haroon from All We Imagine as Light.

A movie I wish travels to Indian theatres:  Emilia Pérez.

A film that made my jaw drop both in a good and bad way: Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.

An actor I want to see in lead roles more often: Shahana Goswami who is terrific as the lead in Santosh, which played in the Un Certain Regard section. 

A film that should nudge the Academy into giving an Oscar for stunts: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

A film with a distinctive visual language: Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light, the first Indian film to be competing for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in the last 30 years, in which cinematographer Ranabir Das captures Mumbai as never before.  He locates the grim beauty, angst, and claustrophobia of Maximum City.  

My favourite ‘only in Cannes’ moment: At the opening night dinner, I was seated with other media correspondents. There were two empty seats at our table. About an hour later, an elegant, serious-looking gentleman came and sat next to me. I asked if he was also from the press. He said, ‘No, I’m Meryl Streep’s security.’ 

My favourite Cannes memory: An emotional Juliette Binoche paying tribute, at the opening ceremony, to Meryl Streep, who was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or. At one point, the visibly moved actor look toward Streep and said, “You have changed the way we look at women.” I choked up. 

An actor I was thrilled to see in Cannes: Naseeruddin Shah, who made his Cannes debut after nearly 50 years of sterling films and performances. 

My hope for India at Cannes: That 2024 is just the start, and that each year, the hype and excitement around our cinema is bigger than that for our stars and gowns.