The Payal Kapadia directorial 'All We Imagine As Light' will open the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 on Friday, 18 October.
Published Oct 18, 2024 | 11:05 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 18, 2024 | 11:05 AM
'All We Imagine As Light' to release in India. (X)
The Cannes Grand Prix winner All We Imagine As Light is all set for theatrical release in India on 22 November.
The Payal Kapadia directorial will open the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 on Friday, 18 October. During the press conference at the film festival on Thursday, 17 October, director Payal Kapadia and actor-producer Rana Daggubati, whose Spirit Media is distributing the film in India, announced that the film will have a grand pan-India release on 22 November.
The film was released briefly in Kerala on 21 September, and received great reviews.
Rana added, “It is a huge honour for us to be part of this film and bring it to all of you guys. And thank you Payal for making such an awesome film, and partnering with us to get this film out.”
Director Payal Kapadia noted, “This film has been years in the making, I am incredibly excited for the next phase. It is for the first time that a film of mine will be released in theatres and Indian audiences will finally be able to buy tickets and experience it on a big screen, where cinema truly comes to life.”
Answering a question about backing an Indie film, the actor-producer said, “Even after 20 years in the industry I fail to understand what is Indie and what is mainstream. We have always thought that cinema which has song and dance is mainstream cinema and everything that has a unique story and emotions became independent because it was always hard to release a film without big stars and big names attached to it. Now, I think India has gone to that phase.”
“My career actually started with a film called Bommalata, which is an independent film that won a National Award but we couldn’t get a theatrical release at that time. From then on it was about trying to find the space for this. In India, unlike the rest of the world, there are no government grants for filmmakers or art in that form. It’s just always been the merit of the film and a few filmmakers that have really championed these films out there,” he added.
“When I watched All We Imagined As Light, it was almost like watching a regular Malayalam film, not an independent film in that sense, because Malayalam cinema has a storytelling or a narrative that is used in its style. With this release, we want to break the format that this is how an independent film is released.”
An Indo-French co-production between Petit Chaos from France and Chalk and Cheese Films from India, All We Imagine As Light was released in theatres across France on 2 October.
Payal Kapadia’s film speaks about the lives of three working-class women from Kerala, working in Mumbai.
All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix Award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, which is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d’Or, during the closing ceremony of the 77th edition.
It was the second Indian movie in 30 years after Shaji N Karun’s Swaham (1994) to feature in the Cannes Film Festival’s main section.
In her speech at Cannes in May 2024, Payal Kapadia said the film delves into the essence of friendship, portraying the bond between three distinctly different women.
“Far too often, society pits women against each other, which is unfortunate. However, for me, friendship holds immense significance as it fosters greater solidarity, inclusivity, and empathy,” said the filmmaker.
“All We Imagine As Light is a daring and sincere movie from Payal Kapadia that speaks about the lives of three working-class women in Mumbai. The movie is realistic to its core and is definitely a masterpiece,” our review read.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula)
