Deepika Padukone confesses she ‘wasn’t entirely familiar with’ other Cannes Film Festival 2022 jury members

Deepika Padukone has been a regular at the Cannes Film Festival since 2017, but this year marked the first time she attended the festival as a jury member.

Apart from Deepika, others in the eight-member jury are Asghar Farhadi, Rebecca Hall, Vincent Lindon, Jasmine Trinca, Ladj Ly, Jeff Nichols, Noomi Rapace, and Joachim Trier.

Deepika shared that while she was familiar with the work of some of the jury members, including Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and English actor Rebecca Hall, she had to educate herself about others’ work.

Deepika noted that the same was the case with the other Cannes jurors, and the first thing they decided to do after their first meeting was to get familiar with each other’s work. The jury is responsible for announcing one of the 21 films as the winner of the coveted Palme d’Or, and will announce this year’s results at the closing ceremony on May 28. French actor Vincent Lindon is the head of the panel.

In a recent interview with Variety, Deepika said, “I wasn’t entirely familiar with all of them, as is the case with all of the jurors. And I think what all of us, which we discovered after we met the first evening, was to actually read up on our fellow jury members and watch some of their work. So even when you deliberate, you understand where they’re coming from, or what is the kind of cinema that speaks to them and so on.”

Deepika, who will complete 15 years as an actor in November 2022, also said that being invited as a jury member at Cannes came as a surprise to her. She said, “They [the festival management] seem so convinced about why they made that decision. And it makes me sit back and think sometimes maybe I’ve not given myself enough credit. And that’s okay too, because, I don’t want to be feeling like, like this huge achievement or whatever. If I’ve landed here today, without even realising it, I must be doing something right. “

Meanwhile, Deepika was spotted partying with Rebecca Hall during the film festival on Saturday night. Ranveer Singh, who had travelled to Cannes to be with his wife Deepika, was also present with them.