The three played down the reported bust-up with Harvey Weinstein whose company is distributing the film in the US. Chopra, appropriately decked in a white linen and shades, oozed new Bollywood and old Hollywood charm. A Bollywood star, he explained his Hollywood journey and his desire to be pulling the strings to make films, rather than appear in them. It was a huge coup for YRF Entertainment to be awarded the opening gala screening which was enthusiastically received by the Cannes crowd but made less of an impression with the critics.
Chopra speaking to www. Nevertheless, Chopra expressed his huge excitement and sense of achievement walking perhaps the most famous film red carpet of them all, alongside established Hollywood icon, Cannes veteran and star of his production, Nicole Kidman. He said YRF in India would try to screen the film in about double the number of movie theatres a normal Hollywood movie would get. In India, YRF is responsible for scores of films and is a big Bollywood player, making the hugely successful Dhoom franchise, which is currently in its third instalment.
He said he loved the script by Iranian-origin Amel, who moved from London to LA to further his screenwriting career. Amel in the panel discussion was more explicit about his own inspiration, saying it was the idea of woman and a film star trying to become a princess that first fired his writing instincts. Her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco was a movie in itself. MGM supplied the dress.
The film is introduced as a fictional account based on real events and is very similar in style and tone to Hollywood films of the s and s. It was turning point six years into their marriage. It was all about a marriage. She lost her sense of identity. In a more private discussion, he said the film appealed because it was all about family and was a portrait of a marriage that people could relate to β especially he felt in India, where it might resonate with a lot of women who tend to lose a lot of themselves as they play a subservient role to their new husbands.
This is the larger challenge. There are not many political barriers and creatively we are very different to the other studios in Hollywood , we buy our own projects and are totally separate from India YRF. We can make one movie or three if Uday finds things he is passionate about.
