Cannes 2012: 'I am Mumbai' shouts loud in Film Craft; bags gold Lion

However, the film failed to get a metal in Film Lions; the jury president called it too emotional and loud.

'I am Mumbai', the film created by Taproot (Agnello Dias and Santosh Padi) and Abhinay Deo, has bagged a gold in the Film Craft category for Best Direction.

The specialty of the film is that it was shot in the streets of Mumbai, with a cast which had never faced the camera before. The cast did not even know about the placement of the camera, and the crowd around the cast comprised normal people who were caught unawares, so their expressions were real, too. What's interesting is that the cast was only made to attend a two-day workshop to discuss certain problems in order to bring out the angst on camera.

The thought behind the campaign is that in a city where the ordinary man can feel rather helpless and is at the receiving end of an insensitive system, the paper empowers the reader and gives him/her a voice.

The film was nominated in two categories -- Film Lions and Film Craft. While the Film Craft jury found the film to be exceptional and awarded it a gold metal, the Film jury found it 'too emotional and loud'.

Espen Horn, jury president, Film Craft Lions, and executive producer, Motion Blur, says, "I saw the film for the first time at Cannes. This was a black and white piece of work but you suddenly notice it. It is so touching and hits you hard. Mind it, it's not for the portrayal of poor people, rather the film slowly grows on you and you feel the goose bumps. For a moment, you feel you are in Mumbai."

"It's so mellow but is very well executed in terms of what they are saying, how they are saying and where they are saying it."

When asked about the cast, Horn says, "I could make out that the cast comprised non-actors, which gives the film a sense of realism."

It was a unanimous decision, shares the jury from India, Sneha Iype Varma, executive producer, Nirvana Films. She says, "This category is tricky because there are different layers of craft. The jury out here liked it because it was bold and spoke clearly on issues."

"Though the use of megaphone is not a new concept but the B&W look and the director's ability to get some great performance from the cast stood out and spoke out loud by itself," she adds.

"The director runs the final leg to a film campaign. As creative, we provide the raw material and Abhinay (Deo) is a director who can do it with minimal raw material. The finer point came in when Abhinay said that we should do a film that disturbs the consumers."

It was Abhinay's decision to shoot it in black and white. Generally, a film is shot in colour and then experimented with a B&W option. "But Abhinay took this bold step," says Dias.

The other Indian film to shortlisted in this category was the Google Chrome-Tanjore Painting commercial. Horn says, "This one was entered in the Art Direction category and the film was very visually strong but the category of Art Direction is itself very large and strong."

According to Varma, the film lacked finesse. "It doesn't mean that it wasn't executed well but a little more detail could have helped it further."

There were 1,700 entries in the Film Craft category this year - 300 more than last year -- out of which 7.5 per cent were shortlisted and 56 were finally awarded a Lion. The Grand Prix in this category was awarded to 'Bear' created by BETC Paris for the French movie channel Canal+.

The jury president says, "We saw the film for more than 20 times and we still found it to be entertaining. A normal film would have bored you by the fourth or fifth viewing."

The jury agreed that the film was good, the script was good, and they couldn't have added anything different to the film, other than what it was.