The recently concluded 79th annual Cannes Film Festival, which took over the French Riviera from May 12 to May 23, 2026, witnessed a major influx of Indian creative talent. While high-profile actors and global brand ambassadors like Aishwarya Rai, Alia Bhatt, and Aditi Rao Hydari captured the red carpet headlines, an Indian-origin independent filmmaker quietly stole the show in the business circuits.
Sandip Patel, the visionary founder of SRHP Films, became the talk of the town at the Marché du Film (Cannes Film Market) with his upcoming Hollywood psychological horror feature, Holy Father.
Directed by acclaimed writer-director Shravan Tiwari, Holy Father generated massive buzz among global distributors, festival scouts, and international buyers. Setting the project apart is its high-profile Western cast, led by Oscar-nominated Hollywood veteran Eric Roberts and Mary Lyrette. The film—a gritty horror-crime thriller set in Savannah, USA—follows a disgraced priest who becomes the prime suspect in a string of ritualistic murders, blending Hollywood production values with atmospheric tension.
Bigger Slate in Motion: Proving his Cannes presence wasn’t anchored to a single project, Patel also utilized the global festival platform to announce the strategic launch of another major Hollywood venture, Sundown Town. Also directed by Shravan Tiwari and co-produced alongside Rita Patel, the film celebrated its official U.S. launch ceremony on May 23, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia, and is structurally tracked for a wide theatrical rollout in 2027.
The Strategic Mind Bridging Two Worlds
Based in Augusta, Georgia, Sandip Patel has spent over a decade quietly scaling his banner, SRHP Films, by producing bold, boundary-pushing genre content. Before expanding his production canvas directly into English-language Hollywood horror, Patel’s studio established its reputation through realistic, high-impact Hindi crime thrillers and suspense features across India’s top streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and ZEE5.
During the festival’s business panels, Patel actively represented the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA). Backed by guidance from IMPPA Vice President Atul Patel and supported by award-winning digital marketing expert and photographer Ashvin Borad, Sandip Patel engaged in high-level networking sessions focused on co-production treaties, global distribution networks, and establishing structural pipelines that allow Indian filmmakers to tap into mainstream Western theatrical markets.
Expanding a Diverse Cinematic Portfolio
The transition into independent Western horror marks a deliberate diversification strategy for Patel’s banner. SRHP Films’ portfolio has historically favored complex, gritty human dramas and underworld thrillers. Their catalog features acclaimed projects such as the multi-layered crime thriller Aazam (starring Jimmy Sheirgill and Abhimanyu Singh), the supernatural thriller 706 (starring Divya Dutta and Atul Kulkarni), and the gritty underworld original series Murshid.
Looking ahead, Patel is balancing his Western expansions by simultaneously steering high-concept domestic projects. Next up on his studio’s domestic pipeline is the anticipated cross-border espionage thriller Two Zero One Four, featuring action veterans Jackie Shroff and Akshay Oberoi. By systematically pairing domestic crowd-pullers with independent English-language horror vehicles, Patel is building a flexible model that places independent Indian-origin production banners at the forefront of the global entertainment marketplace.