Anurag Kashyap says Cannes is more than celebrity fashion moments: Sparks reactions from Alia Bhatt fans

Dubai: At a time when the Cannes Film Festival has become one of the most visible global stages for Indian celebrities, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has offered a blunt reality check on how it is perceived back home.

Speaking in a recent interview with Sucharita Tyagi, during his visit to the festival, Kashyap said that in India, Cannes is often reduced to a fashion or just a red carpet moment rather than what it truly represents, a global celebration of cinema.

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“In India, the obsession with Cannes is only about walking the red carpet. People don’t understand that there is a festival beyond it, and that its purpose extends far beyond the red carpet,” he said.

Beyond his critique of the spotlight culture surrounding Cannes, Kashyap also shared a more personal approach to his own appearances at the festival. He revealed that he tends to deliberately avoid attention and the usual media frenzy that surrounds celebrity arrivals.

“Hum log side se chale jaate hain,” he said, loosely translating to the idea that he prefers to slip in quietly rather than stage a posed entry for cameras. 

His comments quickly triggered conversations online, with social media users debating whether the filmmaker was indirectly referring to the increasing number of celebrities, influencers, and brand ambassadors attending the festival primarily for visibility.

Among the names repeatedly brought up in comment sections was Alia Bhatt, who attended Cannes this year as a global ambassador for L’Oréal Paris. Several users speculated that Kashyap’s remarks may have been aimed at mainstream celebrity appearances, though he did not mention Bhatt or any individual by name.

At the same time, many fans defended Bhatt online, arguing that her appearance at Cannes was tied to an official global brand partnership rather than simply a red carpet appearance. l

Others argued that Kashyap’s criticism appeared to be directed more toward influencer culture surrounding Cannes, where creators and internet personalities attend for social media exposure despite having little connection to cinema or the festival.

Known for films such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Ugly, and Raman Raghav 2.0, Kashyap has long been vocal about what he sees as the commercialisation of film culture in India.