Cannes 2025: How Australian finance and production entity Southern Sitara is abridging the cinematic gap between India and Australia, to present Anupam Kher's new film 'The Return'

Over the last few years, Cannes has become a festival more about fashion than films. This year, we had the likes of Aishwarya Rai and Aditi Rao Hydari flaunting their gorgeous dresses and making style statements. But it was as much about cinema.

The one film that has made the maximum noise is Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, starring Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor, and Vishal Jethwa. It received a nine-minute standing ovation. And there’s another attempt that has happened at Cannes this year, and it’s to abridge the cinematic gap between India and Australia. It has been done by the Australian financial entity Southern Sitara. This was unveiled at the ongoing festival.

This is to aim at a co-production treaty and co-raised investment. One of the projects includes a film called The Return, starring Anupam Kher. It is founded by Roshni Pandey and Jagdish Sidhu who manage a portfolio across Southeast Asia, London, and Australia—Southern Sitara will also co-produce with award-winning production company TEMPLE, based at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney.

More from Entertainment

'Jugnuma' Movie Review: Manoj Bajpayee-Deepak Dobriyal’s terrific performances stood out in this beautifully restrained way of storytelling 'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale' Movie Review: The final goodbye of Julian Fellowes’s beloved British soap

The initiative is conceived by filmmaker Anupam Sharma and he was quoted saying, “Australia provides unprecedented support to screen professionals. Southern Sitara builds on this to enable authentic cultural storytelling.”

Pandey added, “We’ve been piloting business models to de-risk film investment, and Australia’s treaties and incentives have helped us transform the narrative.”