Congratulations pour in for Payal Kapadia as All We Imagine As Light wins big at Cannes

A proud moment for India! Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light scripted history as her emotional, female-centric movie went on to win the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

Kapadia's movie on the life of two immigrant medical workers won the second-biggest prize at the film festival. With this historic win, she became the first Indian director to win the Grand Prix.

Notably, this was the first Indian film to be selected in the competition section at Cannes in 30 years. It isalso the first film by an Indian woman filmmaker to compete at the festival.

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All We Imagine As Light Historic Win

Payal Kapadia along with the film's cast Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha and Chhaya Kadam were present at the closing ceremony. The director received the big honour from American actor Viola Davis, who made a surprise appearance atthe gala night.

Accepting the award for her debut feature movie, Kapadia said in her speech, "I'm very nervous, so I wrote something down. Thank you to the Cannes Film Festival for having our film here. Please don't wait 30 years to have another Indian film.''

“This film is about friendship between three women and oftentimes women are pitted against each other. This is the way society is designed and it is very unfortunate. But for me friendship is a very important relationship because it can lead to greater solidarity, inclusivity and empathy towards each other,” she added.

All We Imagine as Lightbeat 20 other films in the competition, which included movies from acclaimed directors like Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg. The Festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, went to Anora.

Congratulations pour in

From netizens to Bollywood celebrities, a flood of wishes poured in for Payal and the entire team for makingIndia proud on the international platform.

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Calling the moment history, Heeramandi actress Richa Chadha wrote on X, “HISTORIC!!! Just beaming from this news! Congratulations Payal Kapadia, Ranabir Das, Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Hridhu Haroon, Chhaya Kadam and the whole team of ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT! Just overjoyed! Independent filmmaking at any point of time is hard, but now is actively scuttled, and then to win a GRAND PRIX ! Ooof. Just thrilled.”

Kiara Advani simply wrote, ''Congratulationss.''

Bhumi Pednekar hailed the team as she wrote, ''Bravo.''

Enthralled by the big wing, actor Ali Fazal wrote, “OH MANNNNNNNNNN, its happened !!! YASSSSSS.”

Netizens Praise Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light

One user wrote, ''It's a prideful moment for Indian cinema at the 77th Cannes Film Festival as Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light wins the Grand Prix Jury Award. It’s became the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix Jury Award.''

Another wrote, ''Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light makes history as the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. 😱🔥🔥�❤️.''

''What a huge moment for Indian cinema," wrote a third.