Esteemed lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar extended heartfelt congratulations to filmmaker Payal Kapadia on her historic win at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Kapadia’s debut feature film, ‘All We Imagine As Light,’ received the prestigious Grand Prix award in the Cannes Critics’ Week section, marking a momentous achievement for Indian cinema on the global stage.
In a congratulatory post on X (formerly Twitter), Javed Akhtar expressed his admiration for Kapadia’s accomplishment. “Dear Payal Kapadia, heartiest congratulations to you. It is a great achievement. Very, very proud of you. Do get in touch whenever you are in Mumbai. Shabana and I would love to host you for a meal,” he wrote.
Kapadia’s win is a significant milestone, as ‘All We Imagine As Light’ is the first Indian film to compete for the Palme d’Or award in nearly three decades, with the last being Shaji N Karun’s ‘Swaham’ in 1994. Her film competed against works by renowned directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Baker, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paul Schrader, Magnus Von Horn, and Paolo Sorrentino. The jury, chaired by Greta Gerwig, director of ‘Ladybird’ and ‘Barbie,’ selected Kapadia’s film for the prestigious honor.
Three years ago, Payal Kapadia won the ‘le prix du documentaire’ for Best Documentary with ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’ at Cannes. Her current film, ‘All We Imagine As Light,’ marks her debut as a feature film director. An Indo-French collaboration, the film tells the story of Prabha, a nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, causing upheaval in her life.