Payal Kapadia ’s film All We Imagine As Light (AWIAL), won the prestigious Grand Prix award at Cannes film festival this year. Predicted to be an Oscar frontrunner, the selection of Kiran Rao ’s Laapataa Ladies over AWIAL, a Malayalam language-Indo-French production set in Mumbai, sparked a debate. Meanwhile, France chose Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez as its Oscar entry for the International Feature category. Payal's much acclaimed film opened the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 on Friday, ahead of the film’s countrywide release on November 22. In an exclusive interview with Bombay Times, Payal and Rana Daggubati , who has the distribution rights of the movie, spoke about the validation that comes with an Oscar nomination, Mumbai as a muse and more. Excerpts...

'All we imagine as light' opened the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival this year on friday. It took you five years to make this film and after winning big at Cannes (first Indian film in 30 years), it has finally come home. What are your thoughts?
Payal: For my film to be the opening film at MAMI was special because this is a festival that I have been attending since 2006, when I was a student at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Back then, this was our only window to independent world cinema. There’s an Argentine filmmaker called Lucrecia Martel, who I really love. When she came to this festival, I started crying and asked her for a photo. From those days to getting my film screened as the opening film this year, it has been quite a journey.

Rana: I have been a MAMI board member. If you go to the West, there is a festival circuit, and people get to watch these films way before the commercial release. The festival is doing that here, which is great for independent voices.



There has been a debate around AWIAL being snubbed by India and France as their respective official Oscar entry. What does Oscar validation mean to you?
Rana: Oscars are not classically Indian. They are American. India is breaking through, there is an India movement happening in the West. AR Rahman won his first Oscar for Jai Ho, but for most of us who have been his fans, that song was probably not the best thing that we have heard from him. He has so many great songs, but they heard that song at that point in time. Natu Natu is the most unabashed Telugu song out there. Whatever films you believe in fully, you have to unabashedly make them, which is what Payal has done and that gives you recognition irrespective of the Oscars. The Oscars are one tick off the box. How can you get people to watch these films is important. Not many watch Oscar-winning films. That culture needs to change. We need to watch cinema that’s not a classic song and dance, but a slice of life with great storytelling. India need to understand India, and there is no other way to achieve that except through cinema. Oscars give you that window to a wider audience, but ultimately, it’s the people who give you that validation.

Payal: Cannes gave us so much attention in India, and the nicest thing is that recognition gave me distribution. There is no bigger joy than screening your film in cinemas, which people can buy a ticket for and watch. I have done that all my life for films that I liked. People wanting to watch a film in cinemas or film festivals is the reason we want to make films.



Do you plan to enter the Oscar race as an independent entry, the route which RRR took?
Rana: The film will take its course. RRR was not an official entry either, but it found its way and reached there on merit. Our journey has just begun.

Payal: The film will be released in India and the US next month, so we will see how people respond to it. Will we send the film independently? It’s not really in my hands. I am happy that Laapataa Ladies has been selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars. It’s such a fun, wonderful movie. As an audience, I am happy about it. I also loved Kiran Rao’s previous film Dhobhi Ghat. Whatever my film gets, it’s a bonus for me.


Films like Salaam Bombay, Wake Up Sid, Slumdog Millionaire, Dhobi Ghat, and now , have Mumbai as their muse. What is it about the city that inspires filmmakers?
Payal: Even Luck By Chance is a wonderful movie set in Mumbai. It is a complex city. It’s a land of opportunities, and people come here from everywhere. It becomes a microcosm of the country. It’s a city where you get different points of view, languages and different ways to reach your dreams, but it can also be cruel and harsh for many to be able to work and sustain here. I wanted to talk about that contradiction through my movie. I am critical of the ‘spirit of Mumbai’ or Mumbai’s resilience sentiment because what we perceive as happiness stems from no choice. You have to get on with your life because you have no choice.

Your film has a line that says, ‘If you had a heartbreak, Mumbai would make you forget that’. The sentiment of not feeling lonely in Mumbai, was that personal?

Payal: It’s borrowed from a friend (laughs). I grew up in the city and there’s so much to do and so much of life coming at you that you don’t have the time to process sorrow. The film sees light as a sign of hope. When you are in a situation and think there’s no way out, you can imagine the light to guide you.