independent filmmakers fight for survival in the shrinking space in theatres & OTT platforms

DESPITE its world premiere at Cannes (2023) and winning multiple awards at other international festivals, Kanu Behl’s ‘Agra’ is still struggling to reach the people it was meant for — the domestic audience.

For a film that had an arduous journey of nine years just to reach viewers at home, there were only nine major screens playing it across India — all of them peripheral. In the entire Delhi-NCR region, ‘Agra’ got only three screens, two of them in Gurugram and Ghaziabad, playing mostly morning shows. It was a similar story in Mumbai. In contrast, a big budget film that was released simultaneously had 4,000 screens.

“Heartbroken and angry, I started posting on Twitter because I didn’t know what else to do,” shares director Kanu Behl. The retweets and shares soon took a life of their own, very much a sign that the angst was not confined to only one individual. That’s because Behl is not the only independent filmmaker to face these challenges; all of them have faced similar struggles at some point in their careers.

Within a couple of days of the film’s release, 46 independent filmmakers posted a joint statement, highlighting the long-standing systemic issues affecting the entire independent film community in India — the shrinking space for such films in theatres and streaming platforms and, paradoxically, the growing reliance of OTT platforms on a film’s theatrical performance as a prerequisite for its acquisition. This unsustainable and shrinking cultural space is eliminating entire generations of independent filmmakers, it read.

The spontaneous movement that started as a WhatsApp group of five persons has close to a hundred members and the numbers are only growing. They are planning to launch a formal body very soon.

“It’s been happening for a long time with most independent filmmakers,” says Honey Trehan, casting director, filmmaker and an indie producer, who is among the 46 signatories.

“Most small films never get any space. And there’s nobody to speak up for these films,” says another signatory, Alankrita Shrivastava, writer-director of ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’, ‘Made in Heaven’, ‘Bombay Begums’, etc.

For National Award winning filmmaker Bhaskar Hazarika, who is also part of this movement, the common challenge remains “finding a decent theatrical release for our films”.

Director, writer and producer Shonali Bose (‘Margarita with a Straw’, ‘The Sky is Pink’), an independent filmmaker of 25 years, says nothing has changed. “There has never been any respect and space for independent cinema in this country. From making to releasing, we struggle at every step to get any space for our films. Awards and recognition at global festivals do get us some attention but the real fight starts after that,” adds the award-winning filmmaker.

Behl is very vocal about the need for structural support and some fundamental changes in the system if these independent voices are to suvive.

While funding remains a key challenge for these small budget films (most have a budget between Rs 3 crore and Rs 7-8 crore), there is never much money for publicity, and distribution is always a major hurdle. All indie filmmakers emphasise on resolution of basic issues like ease of theatrical release, decent number of screens, accessible theatre locations, at least one prime-time slot, and a cap on ticket prices.

Author and film journalist Aseem Chhabra, who is the festival director of the New York Indian Film Festival, also feels that if this lack of access is resolved, people will come. “There is definitely an audience. At most film festivals, indie films are sold out because people are starving and hungry for such films.”

When multiplexes opened some decades ago, they raised hopes about providing a few smaller theatres where indie films could also be shown. They reneged on that promise just as major streaming platforms, who also initially spoke about giving space to independent films but backed out later, adds the film journalist. “Art needs to be supported. Multiplexes are private entities. If they are only bothered about profits and not keen to show thought-provoking cinema, then government support becomes crucial,” adds Chhabra.

Earlier, state-sponsored theatres like Akashvani theatre in Mumbai, run by All India Radio (now Prasar Bharati), would show off-beat movies. Nandan theatre in Kolkata, a government-sponsored film and cultural centre with modern amenities like digital projection and Dolby sound, still shows films, particularly Bengali films, at affordable ticket prices. It is, perhaps, time to revive and expand such initiatives if independent cinema has to survive in India.

Trehan and Hazarika point out another anomaly. Worldwide, cinema comes under art and culture, making it easier for independent filmmakers to get government support, grants, funding, etc. In India and some other countries, it comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Most filmmakers including Behl, Shrivastava, Trehan, and Hazarika, cite the example of France and why it has such a healthy film culture. The French government supports its films at the Cannes Film Festival, providing automatic and selective funding for production and distribution. It also offers a 30 per cent rebate on production expenses for the French films that qualify.

That’s why they reiterate that government support is a must for these kinds of films to survive. “When these films win awards at Cannes and other such festivals, it is the country that gets accolades and respect. The government should support or at least ensure that these films get a decent release for a fixed period and the shows are not cancelled at the last minute,” says Trehan.

“Any film getting selected in the top five international film festivals — Venice, Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, Sundance — or which wins the National Award should be guaranteed a release. The Indian government, exhibitors, distributors should at least support such films and filmmakers,” adds Trehan, who was recently awarded a National Award as the producer of ‘Ullozhukku’, a Malayalam film.

Upset at the discriminatory treatment against indie filmmakers, Trehan is quick to point out, “If films like ‘Gadar 2’, ‘Chhaava’ and ‘The Sabarmati Report’ could be screened in Parliament, then why not Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ (nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, making her the first Indian to be nominated in the main competition in 30 years)? It also won the Grand Prix, the second-highest award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.”

As plans get concretised for the launch of a formal body soon, most filmmakers are hopeful of the change a collective voice can bring. Trehan sums it up perfectly: “If these independent voices don’t get any support from the government or audiences, the next generation of Satyajit Rays, Shyam Benegals, Govind Nihalanis, Ritwik Ghataks, Ketan Mehtas or Saeed Mirzas will not be born.”