Actress Hina Khan, who is currently attending the 75th Cannes film festival, expressed her displeasure at not being invited to the opening ceremony of the Indian pavilion. India is the official country of honour at the festival this year.
In an interview, she said that even though things have changed in the industry (and for her) in the last few years, not enough has changed to bridge the divide between film and television stars.
On the sidelines of the event, she told Film Companion that an ‘elitist’ attitude still exists in the industry, especially against TV stars like herself. Khan said that she would have loved to attend the opening ceremony even as an audience member, but she wasn’t invited for the same.
“Things changed after Cannes for me, I would not deny that. Things did get a bit easier when it comes to work, meeting people, how they look at you, how they greet you, and the designer stuff that we wear… Of course, there are many who still have their reservations, but there are many who reached out to me and told me, ‘We are not like others, you can reach out to us’. In terms of work, it’s been different, it’s been nice. I always look at the brighter side, but at the same time, it is tough as well… Sometimes, you might not be allowed to enter a certain space, so you have to create your own table…” she said.
Talking about the opening ceremony held earlier, she said, “We all belong to the same industry, we all belong to the entertainment business, we have all come here to represent India. I am very excited to launch the poster of my film, everyone there knows that I’m coming to launch the poster of my film… I was very excited… Then comes the news…”.
She went on to say, “There is an elitist system, this elitist game, which still exists. There was an opening ceremony that happened at the Indian pavilion. There was everyone, all the talents, my contemporaries, and not just from Bollywood. It’s not that I envy them, I am so proud of them. But at the same time, it is a bit disheartening, why was I not there? Why was I not there? I could have been there, probably in the audience, at least, cheering for them when they were doing the Ghoomar. I loved the video, I felt so proud of my country.”
Deepika Padukone, Pooja Hegde, Urvashi Rautela and Tamannah Bhati attended the opening ceremony of the Indian pavilion along with Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur. They danced to Padukone’s famous song Ghoomar and the video quickly went viral.
“Let the world know how I feel,”, Hina said and hoped that she would be invited the next year. She is at Cannes this year promoting her film Country Of Blind.
