Cannes diary: I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, AR Rahman shower R Madhavan with praise for 'Rocketry'; Hina Khan pens emotional note; Kamal Haasan suits up

Bollywood celebrities turned the heat up at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

From appreciation for 'Rocketry' to gratitude posts, the renowned personalities had a fun time at the event.

Here's a look at every thing that happened.


Check out: Our Cannes special coverage

'Rocketry' Takes Off
People can't seem to stop talking about R Madhavan's directorial debut 'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect', based on the life of renowned space scientist Nambi Narayanan.

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Anurag Thakur, called the film 'spell-binding'. He said he was confident that the film will the audience speechless. It is a story the world must-see. Congratulations, Madhavan on capturing the soul of the story and sharing it with the world," he wrote.


Film and Television Institute of India Chairperson Shekhar Kapur said 'Rocketry' is a beautiful film. He said that the presence of Narayanan in the audience made the premiere even more 'heart-wrenching'. "The film had its Cannes premiere last night, beautifully directed and starring R Madhavan," he wrote.


Grammy and Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman showed his appreciation to Madhavan for bringing a new voice to Indian cinema.


A member of Central Board of Film Certification and film-maker, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, said that the Narayanan biopic was 'sheer gold'. "More power to you, Madhavan, who like a bullet did all that is required to make a film act, direct, produce and write."


The film was India's official selection for its world premiere at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. At the screening, the film was greeted with thunderous applause and a standing ovation for 10 whole minutes.

Before the premiere, Madhavan walked the Cannes red carpet with ISRO genius Narayanan.

'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect', produced by TriColour films, Varghese Moolan Pictures and 27th Investments, and distributed in India by UFO Moviez and Red Giant Movies in India and internationally by Yash Raj Films and Phars Film Co, will be released in six languages worldwide, including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, on July 1.

Lost And Found
Actress Pooja Hegde's Cannes debut was laced with last-minute mishaps. According to media reports, she lost all her clothes, make-up and jewellery on her first trip to the film festival. Her team did not rest or eat till they had everything ready for the red carpet appearance.

Only one of her bags was checked in while the others were left behind in India with her sole travel bag - which also got misplaced during the transit. Fortunately, she was carrying a few jewellery pieces from India in the handbaggage and she made a scintillating debut on the red carpet before the premiere of Tom Cruise-starrer 'Top Gun: Maverick'.

Keeping It Cool
Superstar Kamal Haasan turned up the Cannes temperature with his style. The 67-year-old shared a string of pictures from his official photoshoot on the quiet streets of the French Riviera.

He looked dapper in a tailored suit by Gaurav Gupta and completed his look with a pair of sunglasses and shoes.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan)

Emotions Run High
Actress Hina Khan's red carpet appearance for her upcoming film, 'Country of Blind', in the cropped version of the lavendar Sophie Couture gown was a winner.

Later in the day, she took to Instagram Stories to pen a thoughtful note for her fans and the media. In her emotional post, she said that the pleasure of walking the red carpet and then scrolling through those pictures later were priceless. "No matter how many photoshoots I do, no matter how many videos I make... but this feeling of looking at your red carpet pictures is priceless. Nothing can beat the red carpet looks," she wrote.

Khan went on to thank the media stationed on the Cannes red carpet for showering her with love and attention. "I love when they stop me and ask me to pose."

The actress said that it was her fans' confidence that has helped her walk the red carpet with such grace. "I always say, it's only your confidence that can turn the tables. Such lovely red carpet pictures." she concluded.

High On Spirits
Later in the day Kapur, one of the members of the Indian delegation, took time off from his busy schedule at Cannes rto explore the city. The film-maker stopped at a wine cellar and was amazed at the wide collection of wines and liquor bottles stored in the basement.

Kapur, who is known for directing renowned films like 'Masoom', 'Bandit Queen', and 'Vishwaroopam 2', shared several Instagram Stories to share a glimpse of the cellar.