Cannes 2023: Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas visits India Pavilion, minister invites him to IFFI

Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting L. Murugan with Hollywood actor Michael Douglas at India Pavillion at the Cannes Film Festival 2023, in Cannes, France.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas on Thursday visited the India Pavilion at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival where he was felicitated and invited to the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in November.

Douglas was welcomed to the India Pavilion by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan, who said the actor enjoys a huge fan following in India for his films such as Wall Street.

“We are conducting our film festival in Goa from November 20 to November 28. This is the 54th edition, I’m welcoming you. I expect your visit and presence along with your entire family to our festival. We will bring our traditions, culture, diversity, languages and food culture to Goa,” the minister told 78-year-old Douglas.

The actor said he has been to India before and his wife, actor Catherine Zeta-Jones, loves the country and is a “pretty good Bollywood dancer”.

“I’m very impressed with the energy, imagination, and creativity. As somebody who watches the news and current events, India is hot. India is rocking,” Douglas said.

Filmmaker Shailendra Singh, who moderated the session at India Pavilion, recalled the actor’s last trip to Mumbai with his wife and hoped they would revive an old film that the duo were supposed to do 15 years ago. “If you find a project that we can do together, then I would look forward to coming back to India… Film is an international language,” the actor said.

Douglas said he was supposed to do a film called Racing the Monsoon with Singh and hopefully, they can still revive the project, which could not take off due to logistical issues.

The actor, who received the honorary Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, was also felicitated by the Indian Pavilion here.

The Fatal Attraction star said in their next trip to India, they want to travel beyond Hyderabad to down south.