Lage Raho Munnabhai is hot at Cannes

Eight months after its theatrical release, the inspiring story of Munna and his experiments with truth continues to touch people's hearts.

At the Cannes Film Festival, where Lage Raho Munnabhai is included in the Cinema of the World section, the film's screening on Saturday drew a packed house of mostly French students.

For the film's director Rajkumar Hirani who attended the screening at Cannes with his wife Manjeet and his six-year-old son Veer, the never-ending popularity of Lage Raho Munnabhai continues to come as a pleasant surprise.

“I am the kind of guy who gets scared at every stage and I was scared about how the film would do. First I was wondering if English subtitles would work with an English audience and in Cannes I was worried about whether French subtitles would work. I shouldn't praise my own film but I think the film has gone beyond subtitles,” said Hirani.

The Cinema of the World section at Cannes this year honours Indian cinema with a seven-film package that includes Hindi films Guru, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Dharm, Tamil film Veyil, Malayalam film Saira, Bengali film Dosar and English film Missed Call.

The makers of all seven films - including veterans Mani Ratnam, Rituporno Ghosh and Shankar - were present at the inauguration of this section which was attended by a significantly white audience.