Director Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prix award at Cannes for her film All We Imagine As Light, recently featured on the TIME100 Next 2024 list, which celebrates emerging leaders from around the world. The list was unveiled by TIME magazine on Wednesday, October 2.
Underlining the achievements of Payal, actor Ayushmann Khurrana wrote a note for her and called her a "trailblazer." His note in the magazine read, "There is a powerful believability to how she (Payal) portrays the human experience onscreen. Her authenticity and her lens on reality are part of what makes her work so rare."
Celebrating the impact of Payal's work, Ayushmann expressed, "What she achieved at Cannes is a milestone for Indian cinema. I’m proud to be living in an era where I could witness a talent like Payal showing the world that Indian stories resonate universally, transcending geographies and languages. Her win will inspire other filmmakers and artists to follow in her footsteps and think big."
Ayushmann Khurrana highlighted how Payal, through her work and achievements, has motivated many other Indians to think big and boldly pursue their dreams. He concluded his note with a wish to work with her: "It would be an honor to work with her, and to engage with her mind."
Payal Kapadia, the daughter of veteran artist Nalini Malani, once faced disciplinary action and an FIR at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). During her time as a student at the Pune-based FTII in 2015, Kapadia became embroiled in disciplinary action when she led a four-month-long protest against the appointment of television actor-turned-politician Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s chairman.
Payal's debut fiction feature, All We Imagine As Light, released on May 25, won the Grand Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival. On May 23, the All We Imagine As Light team danced their way to the Cannes screening. The film received an eight-minute standing ovation after the screening.
An Indo-French production, the film tells the story of a nurse named Prabha who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, causing disruption in her life.
