- By Tapapriya Dutta
- Tue, 18 Nov 2025 01:04 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Independent filmmakers across India have shown disappointment by publicly challenging the country’s exhibition and streaming landscape after Kunal Behl’s award-winning film Agra didn’t get many shows in theatres. Days after Behl opened up about the issue, 46 filmmakers such as Nandita Das, Vasan Bala, Payal Kapadia and many others showed unity and signed a joint appeal urging fairer access for Indian Cinemas. They shared a joint statement on this matter and stated that, despite representing the country at international levels, these films face barriers at the Indian ecosystem.
Kunal Behl shared the joint statement on Instagram and wrote, “A Joint Statement from India’s Independent Filmmakers. Time to speak up! If we choose not to from here, then we will all be responsible for the collective erasure. Share widely and amplify.”
The signatories pointed out that independent films are consistently represented at international levels at global festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, Locarno, Rotterdam and Busan. Despite the international fame, they argued that these filmmakers continued to face significant barriers within the country’s own ecosystem. The situation resurfaced prominently with the restricted release of Agra.
Recommended For You
The statement read, “These films have expanded the idea of what Indian stories can be. They have been celebrated globally for their honesty, courage and craft. And yet, within India, these films continue to fight simply to be seen. This reality has resurfaced sharply with the limited release of 'Agra', directed by Kanu Behl.”
“This creates a 'closed-loop' ecosystem where independent films are asked to 'prove' themselves in theatres while simultaneously being denied theatrical access... We are not demanding exceptional treatment. We are demanding fair access the right for indian audiences to discover Indian films. As a collective community of filmmakers, writers, producers and artists working across regions, we urge exhibitors, OTT platforms, policymakers and cultural institutions to address this crisis with structural reforms,” the statement also read.
The filmmakers demanded that the showtime accorded to their films should have guaranteed minimum accessible show slots, including at least one post-6 pm screen for all indian independent films releasing theatrically. They wanted transparency in programming, where there should be a criterion for screen allocation across chains to ensure fairness and accountability.
Alankrita Shrivastava, Aditya Kripalani, Arati Kadav, Ruchi Narain, Raam Reddy, Honey Trehan, Leena Yadav, Dibakar Das Roy, Karan Talwar, Megha Ramaswamy, Devashish Makhija, Karan Tejpal, Bauddhayan Mukherji, Shonali Bose, Karan Gour, Dominic Megam Sangma, Bhaskar Hazarika, Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Haobam Paban Kumar, Tanuja Chandra, Diwa Shah, Hardik mehta, Sarvnik Kaur, Shlok Sharma, Shaunak Sen, Ajitpal Singh, Rahat Mahajan, Ronny Sen, Safdar Rahman, Akshay Indikar, Ashim Ahluwalia, Pradip Kurbah, Sharukhkhan Chavada, Rima Das and Sumit Purohit are the ones, who signed the statement.