Anurag Thakur, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, headed an 11-member Indian delegation to the Cannes Film Festival in France on Tuesday, dressed in traditional clothing.

Deepika Padukone spoke about the future of Indian cinema at the inauguration of the India Pavilion while seated next to Anurag Thakur, dressed in a power suit. “India is at the cusp of greatness, this is just the beginning…there will come a day I truly believe where India won’t have to be at Cannes, but Cannes will be in India.”

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The I&B minister also campaigned for ‘voice for local’ on the Cannes red carpet. He wore a cream-coloured bandhgala to honour India’s weaving community.

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Anurag Thakur also announced an incentive programme for foreign film shooting in India.”I’m delighted to announce today in Cannes an incentive scheme for audio-visual co-production & shooting of foreign films in India,” he stated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s message was also shared by the I&B Minister. “India has a lot of stories to be told and the country truly possesses the immense potential to become the content hub of the world,” the statement stated.

Anurag Thakur, AR Rahman, Ricky Kej, Prasoon Joshi, veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and actor Kamal Haasan attended the red carpet to see French director Michel Hazanavicius’ debut feature Coupez (Final Cut).

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Mame Khan, a traditional Rajasthani Manganiyar singer, was the first folk artist to appear on the red carpet for the Indian contingent at Cannes 2022. Pooja Hegde and Tamannah Bhatia were also present.

The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival began on May 17th and will end on May 28th, 2022.