Indian presence at the Cannes International Film Festival is increasing in a good way this year. Besides Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan which is up for the “Un Certain Regard” category, the festival authorities have decided to screen Mrinal Sen’s “Khandhar” (The Ruins) in their “Cannes Classic” section.

Released in 1983, “Khandhar” features stalwart actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Pankaj Kapur in lead roles. The movie was favourably received by critics and public alike on its release and even got the special jury prize at the Montreal Film Fest in 1984.

This is not the first time that Cannes has expressed interest in Sen’s films. A Cannes jury prize winner in 1983 for “Kharij”, Sen’s Calcutta trilogy films - 'Interview', 'Calcutta 71' and 'Padatik'- were to be showcased at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival. But the screening fell through due to poor quality of the negatives.

Following media reports about the decrepit condition of Sen's films, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked the Information and broadcasting ministry to restore the classics and 17 of the films are now being restored at the Pune archives. Sounding pleased about the restoration work done by Reliance Mediaworks, the Dadasaheb Phalke winning filmmaker says “"They had undertaken a pristine restoration process removing dust, dirt and scratches frame by frame making it fit for screening at the section". Heath permitting, the 86 year old filmmaker intends to make it for the “Khandhar” screening in Cannes.