The Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed Hindi film, based on the 1917 novel of the same name by Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, premiered at the 55th Cannes Film Festival in 2002 in the Out of Competition section.
"The film deserved to be in competition," said Frémaux, who became the artistic director of the Cannes festival in 2000, about not selecting the Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai-starring film in the competition section that presents the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or.
"It was a fascinating film," said Frémaux, adding he was impressed by the "mix of styles" of 'Devdas', a period romantic drama about a love triangle involving the main characters of Khan, Rai and Madhuri Dixit. "The film was a triumph," he said at the fourth Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, which opened on December 5.
Regretting his decision to programme 'Devdas' in the Out of Competition section rather than the competition section, Fremaux, during his talk at the Red Sea festival on film appreciation, said: "I was young at that time. I didn't put the film in competition."
"It was an incredible moment for pushing the door," he said referring to the film's strong credentials to be part of the prestigious competition for the Palme d'Or.
"There were Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and other famous Indian filmmakers in the Cannes competition before," Frémaux said, adding "this kind of popular cinema like 'Devdas' could have had a place in Cannes" in 2002.
The competition section at the 55th Cannes Film Festival had 22 films, including those by world cinema heavyweights like Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, British director Ken Loach, Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki, Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, American director Alexander Payne, Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg and Chinese director Jia Zhangke.
The Palme d'Or in 2002 was won by French-Polish director Roman Polanski's 'The Pianist'.
Among the Out of Competition films in Cannes in the same year with 'Devdas' were American director Woody Allen's 'Hollywood Ending', 'Star Wars: Attack of the Clones' by George Lucas and Brian De Palma's 'Femme Fatale'.
'Devdas', which was commercially released two months after its Cannes premiere, went on to earn theatrical and critical acclaim.
Speaking at the Red Sea festival with film critic Kaleem Aftab, the festival's Head of International Programme, Frémaux explained the rigorous selection process in Cannes, which watches about 2,500 entries submitted by filmmakers every year.
"We watch all the 2,500 films sent to us by filmmakers from around the world," Frémaux said. "If a film is not selected, it is not because it is bad, but because it is not for Cannes," he added.
The Red Sea festival, which has one Indian film, 'Superboys of Malegaon' by Reema Kagti, in its competition section for the 100,000 dollar (approximate 85 lakh rupees) Golden Yusr award, will conclude on December 14.
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