Cannes is all about stargazing on the red carpet and 100 years of Indian cinema has turned into 100 years of Bollywood , say Onir & Co. There’s money for a 4 crore starry party at Cannes, but back home, there aren’t many theatres for our festival-hopping films. onir lashes out at the double standards in IndiaBollywood celebs may be preening on the Cannes red carpet, but back home, many festival films never get a proper release. Onir, who was instrumental in starting Save Indie Films at Cannes last year, lashes out against the culture of celeb worship, the travails of indie filmmakers and how 100 years of Indian cinema is turning into 100 years of Bollywood. Excerpts:The Hindi film industry comprises 25% of Indian cinema, but strangely, films from no other industry was thought good enough to be taken to Cannes. Also, around 4-6 crore is splurged on an India night at Cannes. Why do we need such a PR exercise when the films selected for Cannes don’t even get a proper release? Miss Lovely, which competed in the Un Certain Regard last year — a section higher than Directors’ Fortnight where Gangs of Wasseypur was screened — is yet to release in India. The same holds true for Peddlers (2012). Does the Ministry, while sanctioning budgets, ever check later if the films are releasing? Just being to Cannes is not enough when all of India is deprived of watching the movie.World over, cinema is considered the youngest form of art. Strangely, in India, it comes under the I&B ministry, not art and culture. As filmmakers, we are denied every benefit that an artist enjoys. In France or even in Hollywood, some of the best films come from the independent space. In France, whenever license is given to a multiplex, it becomes mandatory for them to reserve one screen for independent cinema. Whatever tax is raised from the film, goes back into cinema funds that sponsor independent films. Here, what does the state do, except for organizing parties? NFDC, when it was conceived, was meant to build theatres among other things. Today, it has a lot of films lying with it, which no one gets to see because they are released in, say, four theatres. Until recently, they did not even have a fund policy for print and advertisement (P&A). It’s ridiculous! Instead of making 14 films a year, make seven. Keep the rest to create theatres in smaller cities. See, government has the money, it’s all bulls**t when they say they don’t. It’s 100 years of cinema and there’s not one theatre in Andaman and Nicobar. NFDC said, ‘We are thinking’. Why can’t we open a film club in Kashmir? All that’s needed is a free venue to involve people. You’ll then also create an audience that’s not busy pelting stones. Now, suddenly we have Cannes. Hundreds of officials are going to the festival on taxpayers’ money — doing what? What’s their contribution to Indian cinema? How many Indian films get sold for international distribution? Today, we need to create a film culture, where we don’t have to beg people to give us space. Let’s create Goa Film Bazar in such a way that the entire world comes there to buy Indian films.Anyone can go to the market in Cannes and claim to have walked the red carpet. Big deal! It’s a joke. Cannes, for most, is a holiday destination. Why should people from the Hindi film industry complain, when their business focuses on India and NRIs? Cannes is just an add-on for them. People who get affected are those who know Cannes was once considered a sacred space for good cinema. Today, Indian tourism is huge. Suddenly Bollywood is becoming the centrepoint, not Indian cinema. If a Marathi actress wins a National Award, no one will know her name. The focus will be on Parineeti Chopra, who gets a special mention. People are talking about Mallika Sherawat ... we are proud that she is wearing nice clothes, but what is her contribution to Indian cinema? Has anyone seen the photograph of Ritesh Batra, whose Lunch Box is the most talked about Indian film at Cannes this year? No one knows what other films have gone to the festival barring Bombay Talkies , which boasts of directors like Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap. At the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, where 100 years of Indian cinema was celebrated, a dance number was choreographed by Saroj Khan. Neither Satyajit Ray nor Adoor Gopalakrishnan get a 10-second representation. I have nothing against the film, but Bombay Talkies has a song in the end featuring actors only from the Hindi industry. Sorry, it’s 100 years of Indian cinema, not 100 years of Bollywood. Even the Tamil industry is huge, so why was it that a Kamal Haasan or a Rajinikanth were not part of the dance?After it, Doordarshan has given a 10 pm slot for the ‘Best of Indian cinema’, which will show National Award-winning films right from 2000 and those that have made it to 16 listed film festivals. For a screening, the films will get 15 lakh as against an earlier 5 lakh. If there’s a premiere, it will get 25 lakh. It’s a small step forward — but a step nonetheless. But there’s still no space for docus and short films. Take for example, the case of Ashvin Kumar. Who has seen his Inshallah Football, Inshallah Kashmir? Nobody. They are an important dialogue with the people of Kashmir. A day after the National Award, I&B minister Manish Tiwari announced that Madhavrao Theatre in Delhi will be converted into a hub for independent cinema. When Tagore’s centenary was celebrated, a policy was made that each state capital in the country will have a Rabindra Bhavan/ Rabindra Sadan as a centre of performing arts. As Indian cinema turns 100, why can’t we have the same? The government is spending 300 crore on restoration of old prints. Who is going to watch them? Something has to be done about showing these films. Also, cinema has to be in a non-political agenda space, so that a Parzania or a Firaaq doesn’t get banned in Gujarat. Once the censor board passes a film, no one should be able to stop it. I also have issues with the way young filmmakers are kept out of decision-making. Why can’t adult films be shown at 11 pm? It’s a problem of parenting. Nothing in newspapers, mags, internet or TV is censored, so why films?Even then, I had to delete the kiss between two men. I was told that two men looking at each other romantically is not good for children to watch. I asked them to give it to me in writing as what they said was against the law. Delhi High Court had already decriminalized gay sex. It’s okay for children to watch Ghajini, violence, murder, but they can’t start the process of accepting homosexuality? But Bombay Talkies got a U/A certificate with the kiss straightaway. This discriminates against films that don’t belong to the mainstream space. Or has the censor board changed in one year?I Am, despite its U/A certificate and the National Awards, has no satellite! My Brother Nikhil doesn’t have a satellite anymore! It will not be shown even on World AIDS Day! I’m told there’s no audience for it. At a Delhi screening, there was a packed audience. Illinois University is celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema and they’ll be screening My Brother Nikhil and I Am in November. But within the country, there’s no awareness. Public memory is very short. There’s little gender sensitivity within the industry. What are item songs? If a top actress refuses an item song, there are 10 others replacing her. The focus is on men and women are replaceable. We are not in a country where a Julia Roberts can demand a remuneration the same as the top actors. Here, it’s important for the actress to know who she is cast opposite.My Brother Nikhil (2005) was a mainstream film whose central protagonist was gay. I Am was much bolder. Though independent, my films are mainstream, my actors are mainstream. People have not only forgotten the kiss in I Am but also the fact that it came at a time when the country was debating Section 377. I remember being on a talk show during the Delhi High Court judgment, a church priest told me, ‘We’ll bring you on the right path’. Another minority community leader said, ‘You are a pollution’. But my films don’t have Dostana-type characters. They are about gay people, but their lives don’t revolve around their sexuality. What I liked about Zoya’s film is there a boy, who wants to dress up as a girl, tells his sister something like, ladki hona kya bura hai? But whether it’s the structure or the content, Bombay Talkies is nothing new.