India's show at Cannes is a little disappointing

One more day of judging, one more day at Cannes — though this one was as wonderfully nippy as the preceding ones were hot. A light shower in the evening finished off the perfect day, sending the impromptu party of Indian delegates that had gathered to down a few outside the Brasserie du Casino scurrying for cover. A long and not entirely sober walk thereafter saw us tottering into Maharaja, the very acceptable Pakistani substitute for an Indian restaurant here at Cannes.

As the festival gets off to a slow, creaking start and delegates begin trickling in, initial fears of poor attendance seem well-founded. Paying delegates seem to number fewer than those on jury duty (11, the highest yet), and jurors, far fewer than the ladies and gentlemen of the media. But it’s ok, this is Cannes, all Indians are my brothers and sisters , and anyway, who notices or cares after a few beers?

 

On to the work, then. On the first two days, the jury worked as two subjuries, each screening half the entries to create the first shortlist. Yesterday, the two shortlists were combined, and again whittled to leave about 10 per cent of the total number of entries still standing. The shortlist will be public, and the chosen ones on exhibit by the time you read this, so I give away nothing by noting that India’s showing seems to be a tad disappointing. The good news is, most of the big winners at Goa have made it through to the shootout (or should it be shout-out?) that is slated for today.

Apart from McDonald’s, about which I have already waxed long, if not eloquent, the other standout piece to me is a multi-pronged fund raiser campaign to subsidise The Zimbabwean, the outspoken newspaper which that worthy government is trying to tax into oblivion.

The most powerful symbol of the unbelievable misery the current regime has drowned the population under is the sky-rocketing inflation — inflation that has, believe it or not, necessitated the printing of the billion dollar bill. That, then, is the core of the creative idea — an entire hoarding made up of worthless Zimbabwean billion dollar bills, since, as the copy sardonically notes, it is cheaper to do that than print on normal paper, leave alone vinyl. Simple, direct, powerful — and enough to make you sick to the stomach.

A couple of other pieces of work are worth mentioning, if not for their creative brilliance, then at least for their wonderful use of emerging technologies in the out-of-home space. (An aside here, courtesy one of my very happy friends of last evening. Am I feeling homesick? No, of course not, just out-of-home sick. See what you are reduced to when you are this far from home?)

The first was a Mirage Mirror — installed in women’s washrooms, it suddenly reveals the ominous image of a man looming behind any unsuspecting woman as she leans forward to check her make-up. Jeepers-creepers, where’s dat capsicum spray you were selling me?

The second was really imaginative use of a familiar technology to promote a kids’ bookstore to stressed-out Japanese kids. By simply turning the good old lenticuler poster around 90 degrees, the two-tongued piece reveals nothing when viewed from an adult’s eye level. And when viewed from a child’s height, it gives tongue-in-cheek encouragement, with lines like ‘You become a mediocre child only if you listen to a mediocre adult.’

That’s it for now from me, the jury room beckons one last time.

(The author, popularly known as Chax, is the national creative director at Draft FCB Ulka)