Tag Archives: India World Record

India and EU launch first security and defence partnership amid global strategic shift

Pact opens annual dialogue, joint naval exercises, space security talks and defence industry collaboration as both sides seek resilient supply chains.

India and the European Union on Tuesday signed a landmark security and defence partnership, covering maritime security, cybersecurity and counter-terrorism, similar to the tie-ups the EU has with two other Asian countries — Japan and South Korea.

The partnership comes at a time India is trying to reduce its dependence on Russia for military hardware by diversifying imports and pushing its domestic manufacturing. Europe is also trying to reduce its dependence on the US and deepen its diplomatic and economic ties with other regions.

Speaking about the defence and security partnership, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said: “We are not only making our economy stronger, we are also delivering security for our people in an increasingly insecure world. And today, the world’s two largest economies and democracies launched their first-ever security and defence partnership. This is a landmark departure and a trust-based platform for cooperation on the strategic issues that matter most.”

“In doing so, we will help to build each other’s resilience. Europe and India have a long history of cooperation in the defence industry. Now we will enhance this teamwork even further. We will deepen our cooperation on maritime security, for example, joint naval exercises, to tackle piracy,”
she said.

“And we will step up our work on countering cyber and hybrid threats, which are getting more sophisticated by the day. Our partnership includes a dedicated dialogue on space security, from situational awareness to secure connectivity and stronger cooperation on counterterrorism. Finally, we are launching negotiations on a Security of Information Agreement. Europe and India have chosen to be reliable partners to one another, and this is how we demonstrate the trust we share,” she added.

Earlier in the day, defence minister Rajnath Singh said he discussed a range of bilateral security and defence issues with European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas, including opportunities to integrate supply chains to build trusted defence ecosystems and develop future-ready capabilities.

He said India’s defence industry “can play a meaningful role in the EU’s ‘ReArm initiative’, especially when the EU was seeking to rapidly diversify suppliers and derisk dependencies”.

Kallas, after signing the defence partnership, said the pact “launches an annual security and defence dialogue and deepens cooperation on maritime security, cyber issues, and counterterrorism”.

Rajnath emphasised that Indian and EU defence industries must synergise their efforts for the larger global good as it “complements India’s vision of self-reliance while aligning with the EU’s pursuit of strategic autonomy”.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

Meet Neelam Kaur Gill, the only Indian-origin model to walk the ramp at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2025

The 30-year-old walked the ramp for the American lingerie label for the first time in 2024.

Neelam Kaur Gill, the only Indian-origin model to have walked the ramp at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York on Wednesday, turned heads in a shimmering pink set on the runway. However, this is not the first time Gill has walked for the American lingerie label.

Gill made her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show debut last year. But her modelling career began when she was only 14. 

The 30-year-old was born in Coventry, England on April 27, 1995. Her grandparents were born in India and are Sikhs from Punjab.  

Gill started her modelling career after being discovered at The Clothes Show Live. 

In 2013, she was the first Indian-origin model to appear in a Burberry campaign at the London Fashion Week.

She has worked with several other international brands like Dior, Givenchy and Elie Saab. 

 Gill also appeared in Kanye West’s Yeezy Show.

Following her appearance at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show this year, Gill posted about the show’s commitment to inclusivity and diverse representation.  

“Punjabi princess for @victoriassecret. I’m still floating on cloud 9. Thank you to my Desi community for all the love. I’m so proud of where I’m from & that will never change. THANK YOU @adamselman for making this brown girl feel so seen, loved, confident and empowered. Thank you @piergiorgio for making my dream come true again,” she wrote, sharing photos from the event. 

According to media reports, Gill is dating a close friend of Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.

The 2025 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show saw a star-studded lineup featuring fashion icons like Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, and sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid.  

Indian actress Triptii Dimri was also present on the front row, joining global luminaries at the glamorous New York event.   

source/content: telegraphonline.com (headline edited)

Sriram Krishnan – The Indian-American who could decide the AI arms race

Sriram Krishnan is the 6ft 6in tech guru steering US policy in the battle for AI supremacy with China.

Who’s the most powerful Indian-American on the planet right now? Toss the big names into a hat and pull them out one by one.

Could it be Microsoft’s quietly effective Satya Nadella, who turned the software giant into an AI powerhouse? Or Sundar Pichai, steering the Google juggernaut from one innovation to the next? Or Vinod Khosla, billionaire and Silicon Valley oracle for decades, though a vocal anti-Trumper, which rules him out for Washington’s inner circle.

Still wondering? There’s a newer star already ensconced in the White House. Enter Sriram Krishnan, 41, the White House policy adviser on Artificial Intelligence – and at 6ft 6in, a man who literally towers over his rivals.

He’s at the cutting edge of the most transformative technologies of our time that are about to change the world beyond recognition.

Krishnan sees AI not just as an innovation but as the new frontier of world domination.

‘If we don’t win the AI race with China, the consequences are catastrophic,’ he warned on a podcast. To him, AI is the new 21st-century arms race – one that will decide who runs the world in the decades ahead and who becomes the next superpower.

Krishnan has been in the thick of AI action ever since he parachuted into the upper ranks of the US government. Soon after the Trump administration took charge, he was at the Paris AI Summit in February, where he made his presence felt by pushing aggressively for the adoption of US AI technology with the message: buy American AI or get left behind.

His firm conviction that the US must dominate AI technology was once again on display, though more controversially, when Trump struck a string of chip deals with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, under which the US would sell cutting-edge AI chips to the Gulf kingdoms in huge quantities.

The deals sparked strong criticism, with detractors pointing out that the Chinese could quickly get their hands on the advanced chips being sold. Krishnan disagrees, arguing that it’s a win if US companies are selling billions of dollars’ worth of hardware.

Krishnan had already been a technology evangelist long before entering the White House. Together with his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy, he has hosted one of Silicon Valley’s most popular podcasts, The Aarthi and Sriram Show.

Drawing on their deep tech-world contacts, they have pulled in industry mega-stars like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Marc Andreessen (of Andreessen Horowitz fame, Silicon Valley’s ‘super-angel’ venture capitalist). Elon Musk’s appearance on the podcast sent listenership numbers soaring, pushing it into tech stratosphere mode.

The couple like to joke they’re ‘outsiders who crashed the gates’ of Silicon Valley through sheer drive and talent. Recently, they chatted with Aravind Srinivas, the 31-year-old CEO of Perplexity, which calls itself a ‘free AI-powered answer engine.’ At one point, Krishnan joked to his wife about Srinivas: ‘He’s calling us old!’ – a reminder that even tech veterans age fast in a world moving at warp speed.

A Chennai native, Krishnan studied at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, earning a Bachelor of Technology in IT, before moving to the US in 2007. He went on to lead engineering teams at Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook and Snap.

His name even surfaced as a potential CEO for Twitter when Musk took over the platform for a staggering $44 billion. Of Musk, he says admiringly: ‘He tries to push things to the absolute simplest. His ability to take risk is beyond what most human beings are capable of.’

When the Trump government moved into office and his transition team began building its tech roster, Krishnan received a call from the government’s new AI czar, David Sacks, who offered him a chance to shape the ‘right’ AI policies.

Krishnan didn’t hesitate when Sacks came knocking. He told Politico: ‘I thought we were heading in the wrong direction with AI. I thought we were in a precarious position when it came to all things China.’ That sense of urgency and rivalry continues to define his approach to policy.

Krishnan doesn’t toe the MAGA line on everything. He has opposed country-based Green Card quotas, arguing that the rule works against skilled migrants from populous countries like India. His call for a global merit-based system that attracts ‘the very best talent from around the world’ hasn’t sat well with Trump’s anti-immigration supporters, who vociferously opposed his hiring as AI adviser.

MAGA stalwarts believe no outside talent is needed and that America has more than enough homemade talent to get ahead in the world of technology. But Krishnan’s not backing down.

To him, it’s simple: innovation wins wars, and talent wins innovation.

It’s impossible to talk about Krishnan without mentioning his wife Ramamurthy. They met online – but not on a dating app, as they like to joke. They both pride themselves on their nerdiness and were discussing coding issues online.

Ramamurthy was a prodigy at Coimbatore’s PSG College of Technology and was hired by Microsoft before she finished college. Later, she joined Netflix before striking out as a venture capitalist. This year, she launched Schema Ventures, which has a $20 million kitty and has made bold early investments in the start-up world.

Together, Aarthi and Sriram are something of a power couple for the digital age: entrepreneurs, podcast influencers and policy-shapers all rolled into one.

With their success, they’re also eager to ‘give back’ and believe they have valuable counsel to offer youngsters looking to make it big in technology. Two years ago, they hosted a seminar in Chennai for college students keen to make their mark in the ‘big bad world of tech’, offering tips from two people who know what it takes to make the leap from outsider to insider.

For now, though, Krishnan’s focus remains squarely on the race that could define the next century. He has one goal in mind: keeping the US on top in the AI age.

As the man helping steer US AI policy from the White House, his decisions could help determine whether America or China rules the future of artificial intelligence. If Krishnan gets his way, that future won’t just be ‘Made in America’ – it’ll be powered by it.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

Neeraj Chopra clinches Paris Diamond League title with victory over Germany’s Julian Weber

The 27-year-old Chopra won the title with his first round throw of 88.16m in a star-studded field having five competitors in the 90m club.

Indian javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra won his first Diamond League title in two years as he upstaged Julian Weber of Germany after back-to-back second place finishes here on Friday.

The 27-year-old Chopra won the title with his first round throw of 88.16m in a star-studded field having five competitors in the 90m club. His second throw measured 85.10m and he then fouled his next three attempts before recording 82.89m in his sixth and final effort.

Weber was second with his opening throw of 87.88m, while Luiz Mauricio Da Silva of Brazil was third with his third round attempt of 86.62m. Chopra had breached the 90m mark in the Doha leg of the Diamond League on May 16 with a throw of 90.23m for a second place finish. Weber had won the title in Doha with his last round throw of 91.06m.

The 31-year-old Weber had also beaten Chopra at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet on May 23 in Poland where both performed below their best under chilly and overcast conditions. Weber had produced 86.12m while Chopra could only come up 84.14m to finish second.

Chopra had won his last DL title in Lausanne in June 2023 with a throw of 87.66m. Since then till Friday, he has finished second in six DL meetings.

This was Chopra’s first win in the Paris leg of the prestigious DL series. He last competed in the Paris DL in 2017 as a junior world champion and finished fifth with a throw of 84.67m.

The two-time Olympic medallist Indian began the 2025 season with a title in an invitational meet at Potchefstroom, South Africa, which was a minor — category F — event with a throw of 84.52m.

On June 24, Chopra will compete at the Golden Spike athletics meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic. After that, the reigning world champion will feature in the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic on July 5 in Bengaluru, a World Athletics category A event which he is hosting.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

Dassault Aviation partners with Tata Advanced Systems for Rafale fighter fuselage production in India

Describing it as a significant step forward in strengthening the country’s aerospace manufacturing capabilities and supporting global supply chains, Dassault Aviation said the facility represented a vital investment in India’s aerospace infrastructure.

Dassault Aviation and Tata Advanced Systems Limited have signed four Production Transfer Agreements to manufacture the Rafale fighter aircraft fuselage for India and other global markets.

Describing it as a significant step forward in strengthening the country’s aerospace manufacturing capabilities and supporting global supply chains, Dassault Aviation said the facility represented a vital investment in India’s aerospace infrastructure and would serve as a critical hub for high-precision manufacturing.

Under the agreement, Tata Advanced Systems will set up a production facility in Hyderabad for the manufacture of key structural sections of Rafale, including the lateral shells of the rear fuselage, the complete rear section, the central fuselage, and the front section.

The first fuselage sections are likely to roll off the assembly line in 2028, with the facility expected to deliver up to two complete fuselages per month.

“For the first time, Rafale fuselages will be produced outside France. This is a decisive step in strengthening our supply chain in India. Thanks to the expansion of our local partners, including TASL, one of the major players in the Indian aerospace industry, this supply chain will contribute to the successful ramp-up of the Rafale and, with our support, will meet our quality and competitiveness requirements,” said Eric Trappier, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dassault Aviation.

Sukaran Singh, CEO and managing director, Tata Advanced Systems Limited, said: “This partnership marks a significant step in India’s aerospace journey. The production of the complete Rafale fuselage in India underscores the deepening trust in Tata Advanced Systems’ capabilities and the strength of our collaboration with Dassault Aviation.”

“It also reflects the remarkable progress India has made in establishing a modern, robust aerospace manufacturing ecosystem that can support global platforms,” he said.

“The signing of these contracts reflects Dassault Aviation’s strong commitment to India’s ‘Make in India’ and AtmaNirbhar initiatives. This partnership aims to strengthen India’s position as a key player in the global aerospace supply chain while supporting its goal of greater economic self-reliance,” said Dassault Aviation.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Bound for space: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla set for SpaceX mission with halwa

Shukla will be the pilot on the Dragon spacecraft commanded by US astronaut Peggy Whitson with Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisiniewski and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu as mission specialists on the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) during their 14-day stay on the orbiting laboratory.

Indian Air Force combat pilot Shubhanshu Shukla is set to fly to the International Space Station next week from a US spaceport aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and become India’s second astronaut since Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 Soyuz mission.

Shukla will be the pilot on the Dragon spacecraft commanded by US astronaut Peggy Whitson with Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisiniewski and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu as mission specialists on the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) during their 14-day stay on the orbiting laboratory.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Ax-4 crew aboard the Dragon from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 10. While aboard the ISS, the Ax-4 astronauts plan to conduct over 60 science experiments, public outreach and technology demonstrations. The launch was earlier set for June 8.

Shukla is a group captain with over 2,000 hours of experience flying multiple combat aircraft.

Shukla is one of four candidate astronauts selected for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Gaganyaan human space flight mission expected to take place in 2027.

“It’s been an amazing journey until now — the best is yet to come,” Shukla said on Tuesday at a countdown-to-launch media conference organised by Axiom Space, a US-based private aerospace company engaged in commercial missions to the ISS and working towards building the first commercial space station.

Shukla and fellow IAF group captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, who’s serving as his designated backup, have been under training for the AX-4 mission since August 2024. All the AX-4 crew have undergone training at Axiom Space, Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre and SpaceX. The training has involved simulations of the launch and docking practice, emergency response drills, space station systems training and scientific payload operations.

“We’re ready to go, we’ve trained for all scenarios, bonded as a team,” said Whitson, who will be commanding her second commercial human spaceflight mission and add to her standing record of 675 days for the longest cumulative time in space by an American astronaut.

Shukla revealed during the media briefing that an air show during his school years and a fascination for fighter jets had drawn him into his career as a combat pilot. “When the opportunity (for an Indian human spaceflight mission) arose in 2018, I instinctively applied,” he said.

Among the seven science experiments Shukla will carry for India, one will examine the impact of microgravity on edible microalgae — a nutrient-rich food source. Another experiment will probe the growth of the organisms called Spirulina, a blue-green algae often described as a “superfood” in space.

Shukla will carry mango nectar, carrot halwa and moong dal halwa to share with his fellow astronauts on the ISS.

The experiments, developed under a tie-up between Isro and India’s department of biotechnology with support from Nasa, are intended to generate data for self-sustaining life support systems for future long-duration space travel.

“From orbit, I hope to speak to students, educators, and members of India’s space industry,” Shukla said, outlining some of the crew’s planned outreach activities from the ISS. Uznanski-Wisiniewsky plans to demonstrate physics experiments to students across Poland.

India’s space agency views the Ax-4 mission as yet another step towards its human spaceflight ambitions.

“The experience and the knowhow from the AX-4 mission is significant to us and will feed into our Gaganyaan programme,” Sudeesh Balan, project director at Isro, had said at a mission overview media briefing earlier this month.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

UoH faculty member elected as Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry

G.S. Vaitheeswaran from University of Hyderabad’s (UoH) School of Physics has been elected as a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry for his contributions to understanding the electronic structure of solids, particularly in the field of energetic materials.

The fellowship will enable Prof Vaitheeswaran to expand his research network and collaborations with universities worldwide, facilitating international funding and participation in conferences.

He has received several notable awards, including the DAE Young Achiever Award, B.M. Birla Science Prize in Physics, and the Chancellor Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research, as per a press release on Friday (May 1, 2025).

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Aurobindo arm’s biosimilar for breast cancer gets EMA panel nod

Aurobindo Pharma subsidiary CuraTeQ Biologics’ biosimilar for breast cancer has been recommended for marketing authorisation by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

“The CHMP has adopted a positive opinion recommending marketing authorisation of Dazublys (150 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion), CuraTeQ Biologics s.r.o. trastuzumab biosimilar, for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic and early breast cancers,” Aurobindo Pharma said on Saturday.

The positive opinion is based on demonstrating comprehensive analytical similarity and clinically no meaningful differences between Dazublys and the reference biologic product Herceptin in terms of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity. Upon European Commission approval that is expected in July, Dazublys will be available for use across EU member states, Aurobindo Pharma Director and CEO Biologics, Vaccines and Peptides Satakarni Makkapati said.

“This marks our third biosimilar to receive CHMP’s endorsement and the fourth overall in the EU, alongside the approval of Bevqolva (a bevacizumab biosimilar) by the MHRA in November 2024. Biosimilars are playing an important role in improving cancer care, and we remain committed to expanding our biosimilars portfolio,” he said in a release.

Aurobindo Pharma Vice Chairman and MD Nithyananda Reddy said the company is working towards building biosimilars as one of the core businesses. “By 2030, we are committed to launching at least 10 biosimilars across oncology and immunology therapy segments,” he said.

On Trastuzumab, which a monoclonal antibody, the company said the biosimilar specifically binds and inhibits the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) protein, which is over-expressed on certain types of solid cancers such as breast and gastric cancer. By binding to the extracellular domain of HER2, trastuzumab disrupts its ability to signal, leading to cell cycle arrest, reduced tumour growth and potentially immune system activation to destroy cancer cells.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

India’s Gongadi Trisha scripts history; becomes first centurion in the history of Women’s U19 T20 World Cup

Right-handed batter Gongadi Trisha scripted history as she became the first centurion in the history of Women’s U19 T20 World Cup. 

Right-handed batter Gongadi Trisha scripted history as she became the first centurion in the history of Women’s U19 T20 World Cup. On Tuesday, the youngster smashed a ton off just 53 balls in India’s Super Six clash against Scotland at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur.

She eventually remained unbeaten on 110 off just 59 balls. Her innings was studded with 13 fours and 4 sixes. She and Sanika Chalke powered India to a commanding total of 208/1 in the allotted twenty overs.

Earlier, Scotland had won the toss and opted to field. India openers Kamalini G and Trisha Gongadi started the innings with a bang, hitting boundaries constantly. The duo put on 67 runs in the powerplay.

The opening batters put on a stand of 147 runs for the first wicket. Kamalini eventually lost her wicket in the 14th over of the innings as she walked back to the hut after scoring 51 off 42 balls.

The opening stand of 147 runs is the highest partnership for any wicket in the ongoing Women’s U19 T20 World Cup.

Sanika Chalke also remained unbeaten on 29 as India posted more than 200 runs on the board.

India register a commanding 150-run win

Aayushi Shukla, Vaishnavi Sharma and Gongadi Trisha took all the ten wickets between themselves to bundle out Scotland for 58 inside 14 overs.

Aayushi took four wickets, while Vaishnavi and Trisha took three wickets each. For Scotland, opening batters Pippy Kelly and Emma Walsingham were the only ones who seemed cut out to handle the pressure situation.

The rest of the batters collapsed in quick succession, and India ultimately registered a comprehensive win. Gongadi Trisha was adjudged as Player of the Match for her perfect all-round effort.

India have already qualified for the semi-finals and the defending champions will play their semi-final on Friday, January 31.

The final of the tournament is scheduled for Sunday, February 2.

source/content: hindustantimes.com / Crickit by HT (headline edited)

Oscars 2025: Payal Kapadia’s seat at the big table

A lack of budget certainly didn’t stop the filmmaker. Her big win at Cannes, along with rave reviews, special screenings and strong distributors with festival know-how have given her an edge.

In the spring of 2022, S.S. Rajamouli’s historical action drama RRR was a huge hit in India and in the global Indian diaspora market when two American distributors floated the idea of releasing it once again — to reach an audience not usually drawn to Indian films.

With great word of mouth and reviews, the film pulled more American audiences. It was quite unlike anything Americans had seen. RRR ended up winning a few critics’ association awards and a Golden Globe for the song ‘Nattu Nattu’. One day before the final Oscars voting began, the distributors, Variance Films and Potentate Films, organised a sold-out screening in the 1,647-seat Ace Hotel Theatre in Los Angeles. A couple of weeks later, ‘Nattu Nattu’ won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures.

Indian films rarely make such an impact in the U.S. during the awards seasons. I have been observing this for over four decades, first as a journalism student, then an entertainment writer and the festival director of the oldest Indian film festival in North America. Unless it is a work of the magnitude of Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi — a British-Indian co-production that won eight Oscars in 1983, beating Steven Spielberg’s most loved film E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial. Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire also won eight Oscars, but unlike Gandhi it was a British production with no Indian producer attached to it.

Grand Prix sets the ball rolling

Marketing, promotion, and celebrity endorsements are often a big part of the awards campaign. In the fall of 2001, British filmmaker Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields) called a few of his friends in Hollywood — all members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Joffé had seen Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Lagaan, which was India’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film. He had liked the film — about a farmer during the British Raj who challenges its officers to a game of cricket to get tax exemption — and wanted to make sure his friends would attend the Academy’s screening.

But in all these years I had not seen an Indian film reach American shores with a stamp of having won an award at a major film festival — not until May 2024, when Payal Kapadia’s second feature All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. It was the first Indian film in 30 years to play in the main competition section of the festival.

Suddenly, it seemed everyone was talking about All We Imagine as Light, a Malayalam language drama on three working women and the transformative power of friendship and sisterhood. IndieWire gave it an A rating; they are usually very conservative in their reviews. And senior critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a five-star rating, comparing it to Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar and Aranyer Din Ratri.

his followed screenings at the top three fall season festivals in North America: Telluride, Toronto and New York. There were more awards, including from several American critics’ associations. And even though India did not submit All We Imagine as Light for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, the buzz about it remained strong.

According to filmmaker and film preservationist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur the reason for the success of All We Imagine as Light is the new film language that Kapadia has developed. “She blends fiction with documentary style of filmmaking giving her narrative an almost hypnotic quality,” he says. “You can’t tell where the fiction begins and when it is pure documentary.” Mumbai-based Kapadia worked as an assistant with Dungarpur before she joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Her journey since has been one of resilience — overcoming wrongful charges of rioting at FTII (where her scholarship was suspended), to persisting with her vision even when her films never found a local audience. Until now.

Under a Golden spotlight

One of the advantages All We Imagine as Light could have had is its European producers. “I don’t know [if there’s a specific] benefit in having a producer from a different part of the world… but if you are keen to premiere at a film festival in Europe, then European producers know the process,” says Kapadia. “Now, many Indian producers are learning about it, along with the American festival system. Look at Reema Das. She is her own producer and has always premiered her movies at top-level festivals. Her films are very local and yet the themes resonate across the world.”

Late last year, several critics and major publications — from The New York Times to Sight and Sound magazine ranked All We Imagine as Light as the number one film of the year. In its recent Instagram post, Sight and Sound described the film as “a delicate, dreamlike tale of loneliness and fellowship” and added that the film recalled works of Ray and Wong Kar-wai. One day after Christmas, Variety named Kapadia as one of the international breakouts of the year.

So, no one seemed surprised when All We Imagine as Light received two Golden Globes nominations, including one in the Best Director category. Variety wrote this reflected “Kapadia’s growing influence in world cinema”. This was the first such nomination for an Indian filmmaker for a film made in India. In 1999, Shekhar Kapur received a Best Director nomination for Elizabeth, but that was a British production.

All We Imagine as Light also received a Golden Globes nomination for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences only accepts one international film submitted by each individual country, but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — the body that awards the Golden Globes — accepts submissions by producers of foreign language films. And so the filmcould compete.

For a while now, commentators have said that the Golden Globes have lost their significance. But one cannot deny that Academy members and studios seriously follow the Globes — the nominations and the awards. (And since any film that runs for a week in any of the U.S.’s six metropolitan areas is eligible to be nominated for the Oscars, All We Imagine as Light is a contender.)

Kapadia attended the Globes dressed in a black silk outfit designed by Payal Khandwala and she wore earrings gifted to her by her mother, the painter Nalini Malani. She was accompanied by her two French producers, Thomas Hakim and Julien Graff, and cinematographer Ranabir Das. “It was such a huge honour to be nominated,” Kapadia shares the day after the Golden Globes ceremony. “The nominations really put our film back in people’s attention. And of course, talking to stars you have admired is always a thrill. I met Jodie Foster as well as director Walter Salles who had both seen our movie, and they liked it!”

Kapadia’s chance of winning a Globe was never definite, given the competitive field she was in, but her name has already registered in the minds of many Academy members. Meanwhile, last week, the film was longlisted in three categories for the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), including best director.

Celebrity support for Indian films 

The torch of All We Imagine as Light has been kept burning by the film’s two distributors, Janus Films and Sideshow. The former had two other foreign language films nominated for the Golden Globes: Vermiglio (Italy), a drama set during World War II, and Flow (Lithuania), a fantasy adventure about a solitary cat’s survival. Flow won the Globe for the Best Motion Picture, Animated.

“We are lucky to work with Janus and Sideshow who really take care of the films they distribute,” Kapadia says. “They understand this system well and make sure that the campaign effort is streamlined and specific. We don’t have a major studio funding backing this effort so it’s sheer hard work from everyone involved.” A stark contrast to money-backed films such as RRR or even a Gandhi, which had the support of a big studio for its Oscar campaign.

But in a crowded field with Hollywood and foreign language films competing for the short attention span of Academy members, celebrity support for films can be really helpful. Late last year before the Oscar shortlists were announced, Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón hosted a screening of Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies in London. British film director of Indian origin Gurinder Chadha, who is a member of the Academy along with Cuarón, also attended the screening.

In mid-November, Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair moderated a post-screening Q&A of All We Imagine as Light with Kapadia at NeueHouse, a small theatre in Manhattan with just 86 seats. The screening was organised by Janus Films and Sideshow to generate interest before the limited release of the film on November 15 in New York City. But it was also intended to start the buzz among Academy members based in the city. The NeueHouse screening was attended by a few Indian-American Academy members, including publicist Gitesh Pandya and producer Shrihari Sathe. Nair is also an influential member of the Academy.

The same evening, Netflix hosted a screening of Laapataa Ladies in New York City. At the time, the film was in consideration for the Best International Feature Film award. Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan were present as was Nair, who did a Q&A with the director and producer. Nair then rushed to moderate the NeueHouse Q&A of All We Imagine as Light. She had seen Kapadia’s film earlier.

Is another nomination likely?

These special screenings by well-known filmmakers are held throughout the awards seasons. In December, Kapadia was interviewed by director Shuchi Talati (Girls Will Be Girls) after the film’s screening at Film Forum, a prime art-house theatre in New York City. Again, the Q&A was meant to create a buzz about All We Imagine as Light as the Academy members were getting set to watch the films in consideration. The film is now in its eighth week of theatrical run at Film Forum.

And earlier at the end of October, Kapadia was in Japan for the Tokyo International Film Festival when she had an in-depth conversation with the Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda. (Kore-eda received a Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 for Shoplifters. The next year Shoplifters received an Academy Award nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film.)

During the conversation, Kore-eda asked Kapadia her thoughts on All We Imagine as Light not being sent to the Academy Awards. Her response was measured and diplomatic. “I think with this film, it got a lot already. I’m very satisfied with how the journey of the film has gone. And it’s been really more than I expected. So everything that comes its way, it’s like a bonus for me.”

All We Imagine as Light has had a huge success in finding distribution deals in 85 countries. And according to Zico Maitra, one of the film’s producers, it has already opened in 43 countries, including just recently in the U.K., Germany and Spain. After a limited release in India, the film is also streaming on Disney+Hotstar. Kapadia wanted her film to be seen by people across the country. Hence, the screenings took place in major cities, but also those that could be described as Tier-II cities: Guwahati, Chandigarh and Kanpur. The OTT release is a part of the extra bonus Kapadia mentioned.

Voting for the Academy Awards is on from January 8 to 12, and the nominations will be announced on January 19. While no one can predict whether All We Imagine as Light will receive any nominations, this much is clear: Kapadia and her film already have a seat at the main dinner table. She will be there even after the award season has ended.

The writer is a film festival programmer and author.

content/source: thehindu.com (headline edited)