Cannes 2011: ‘Bollywood’ To Shake Its Hips Out Of Competition

Last year at Cannes, director, and then jury member, Shekhar Kapur had a conversation about the importance of Bollywood, and its binding cultural impact on India itself as well as its portrayal of India to the rest of the world. The conversation sparked what became Bollywood – The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, a compilation documentary of the greatest moments in the history of the genre to celebrate its melodramatic leanings, and over the top dance numbers. Put together exclusively for this year’s Cannes, the film will be screening out of competition and may just be the perfect introduction 101 to the thousands of journalists who know nothing about Bollywood.

Kapur’s involvement may have put the project in motion, but he left the directing duties to a seemingly odd pair of filmmakers. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Jeff Zimbalist co-directed the dance infused doc. Mehra has a hand full of Bollywood productions under his belt, including the award-winning Rang De Basanti, which swept the International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2007. Zimbalist on the other hand has a history of quality documentary output. Last year his excellent soccer centered doc, The Two Escobars, was part of ESPN’s 30 For 30 series, and was an official Cannes Selection.