Rahul Bhat Returns To Cannes With Hollywood Debut Lost And Found In Kumbh | People News

New Delhi – Actor Rahul Bhat, best known for his intense performances in Black Warrant and Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, is set to make his third appearance at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. This time, he arrives with a new milestone—his Hollywood debut in the English-language dramedy Lost & Found in Kumbh, which will be showcased at the Cannes Film Market.

Bhat’s previous Cannes outings include Ugly (Directors’ Fortnight, 2013) and Kennedy (Midnight Screening, 2023). With Lost & Found in Kumbh, he makes a dramatic genre and linguistic shift, stepping away from dark, brooding characters to embrace a lighthearted, family-centered story.

Directed by debutant Mayur Puri and produced by Los Angeles-based Mulberry Films, Lost & Found in Kumbh tells the story of Maddy, a London-based philosophy professor who travels to India’s Kumbh Mela with his British wife and son. The trip takes an unexpected turn when he discovers his Indian ex-wife and their son staying at his ancestral home—just as his father mysteriously disappears. As the family searches for him, the two half-brothers go missing in the vast and chaotic crowds of the sacred festival.

The film was shot during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj—an event that occurs once every 144 years and draws more than 500 million pilgrims—offering an authentic and visually rich backdrop to the emotional narrative.

Reflecting on the project, Bhat said,“For a change, someone offered me a dramedy. I’ve mostly played dark, intense characters, so this was refreshing—something light, something in English. We filmed toward the end of the Kumbh, and it was still overwhelming: scorching heat, huge crowds. But it was also magical. This one isn’t meant to be taken too seriously—it’s a fun, engaging film, almost like a children’s story in parts. As actors, we often forget where we are, lost in our scenes, but this was the real Kumbh. You could feel it. After years of critical acclaim, I’m finally hearing the word ‘hit,’ and that’s incredibly rewarding.”

This Cannes visit comes on the heels of Black Warrant’s runaway success on Netflix, where Bhat’s portrayal of a tough prison officer with a hidden emotional core helped the series become one of the platform’s most-watched global titles in 2025.

Bhat will take on the role of controversial Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi in Summer of 77, directed by Sudhir Mishra and slated for release on SonyLIV.