Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’ gets 7-minute standing ovation at Cannes

MUMBAI — Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is back at the Cannes Film Festival with his film ‘Kennedy’ and has once again registered a resounding response like all his earlier films such as ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’, ‘Ugly’, ‘Bombay Talkies’ and the two-part gangster drama ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ that made it to the festival.

‘Kennedy’, which is a police noir film, received a 7-minute standing ovation at The Grand Lumiere Theatre where it was screened under the midnight screening section at 12:15 a.m. on Thursday (France local time).

‘Kennedy’ follows the story of an insomniac cop who dwells in different circumstances while looking for redemption. Kashyap was joined at the festival by his friend and frequent collaborator Vikramaditya Motwane and his actors Rahul Bhatt and Sunny Leone along with Shariq Patel, Ranjan Singh, Kabir Ahuja, Bhumika Tewari, Neeraj Joshi, Ashima Awasthi have joined the filmmaker at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Talking about the film screened at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Anurag Kashyap said: “It’s always special to show your film to the world at Cannes and it’s a lifetime moment to play at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. Kennedy is a very special film to me and extremely personal too. We have put our heart and soul into making this film. The 7-minute long standing ovation from the audience has made me full of gratitude. I am very grateful and excited at the same time.”

Talking about her Cannes debut, Sunny Leone said: “I am thrilled to make my Cannes debut with ‘Kennedy’ being screened here. It’s only a dream few actors get to live, and I take a lot of pride in being a part of such a prestigious event. I cannot wait to see how the global audience reacts.”

The music of the film is composed by Ashish Narula with Aamir Aziz and Boyblanck.

Rahul Bhatt said: “‘Kennedy’ is our labour of love. The film is exciting, it keeps you gripped. And as I, along with my team, enter the coveted red carpet of Cannes and show our film to the world, I am full of gratitude for everyone, especially Anurag, who made this possible.”

The film has been produced by Zee Studios and Ranjan Singh and Kabir Ahuja of Good Bad Films.