Diana Penty walked the red carpet at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, marking her third appearance at the prestigious festival. In a conversation with Anupama Chopra for The Hollywood Reporter India, Penty shared what makes the festival so special for her. “With each time that I come here, I just experience so much more,” she says, recalling how flustered she was during her debut, which was not only her first time at the festival, but in Cannes itself.
“It’s just so lovely to see people from all over the world, different cultures, different perspectives. And yet, we’re all connected through storytelling,” she says, calling it “the perfect amalgamation of film, culture, fashion.”
Penty also commented on the soon-to-be-released movie Cocktail 2, the sequel to the first movie released back in 2012 in which she played a leading role, saying that she is 'excited to see what's in store'. The upcoming sequel is headlined by Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, and Rashmika Mandanna. "It looks amazing! I want to see what they have in store and learn about these new characters. It's very exciting," she says, adding that the 'blue waters' by the French Riviera is giving off Cocktail vibes.
Penty says she has had many learnings and takeaways from all the times she has attended Cannes. “It just opens your mind up. The world is so much larger than what our perspective and the little film bubble we come from,” she says, and finds that there is much more to learn, see, and experience.
“Back home you think this is our world, this is our everything,” she adds, claiming that it is easy to think of yourself as a small part of an industry as large as cinema, and that despite this, there is a lot to learn from watching different types of cinema and learning from international filmmakers because “at the end of the day it’s about a story, it’s about characters and people and we’re all connected as people.”
When asked if she finds there to be anything “we are just not getting right” on the red carpet, Penty replies saying “I think India has been doing great on the red carpet lately.” However, she expresses how she thinks India can “tend to try a little hard, especially internationally,” because of the pressure of having to be perceived a certain way.
“I really do wish that we could just be ourselves. We just bring so much with us when we are our authentic selves,” she expresses, further commenting on India’s growing global presence, whether that be in film, fashion, culture, or food. “India is pretty hot at the moment. I really think we should use that to our advantage and own it.”