Woody Allen`s Parisian magic to set Cannes rolling

Cannes: The 64th Cannes Film Festival will unroll here today with Woody Allen`s romantic comedy, `Midnight in Paris`.

The festival, to run till May 22, will screen about 50 films from 33 countries, including India. Shekhar Kapoor`s, `Bollywood, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told`, the sole Indian movie in the Festival`s official sections will not, however, be part of the competition lineup. Kapoor`s work is a documentary where he along with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and American director Jeff Zimbalist will paint a poignant and swirling montage of Bollywood, which has in recent times become synonymous with Indian cinema, though unfairly so in a nation that produces films in many languages and whose numbers are as impressive as those emerging from Mumbai. The twelve day event will see 40 world premieres and 20 will vie for the famed Palm D`Or to be decided by a nine-member Robert De Niro-led jury that will have among others, Jude Law and Uma Thurman. The red carpet at the French Riviera is often as riveting as the films and India will mark it`s presence this year with an entire bevy of `desi` beauties. Aishwarya Rai, Sonam Kapoor, Freida Pinto and Minissha Lamba are among the Bollywood set who will be present at Cannes this year. Much as Mumbai and its Bollywood has been enamouring masses, both at home and outside, Cannes has been even more magical. And as the Festival`s General Delegate, Thierry Fremaux, says, "Between Allen`s opening shot, `Midnight in Paris` and Christophe Honore`s closing film `The Beloved`, Cannes will deploy its charm, its mysteries and its traditions." PTI