Indian indie cinema continues to have its highs and lows which is why there is a need to introspect and arrive at a more realistic roadmap for the future. This was the basis of my presentation at the CineV Cinevesture Chandigarh market (held from 20-23 March 2025) where I looked at the creative and commercial challenges in the indie space.
Creatively, indie cinema needs to expand its scope and story telling by tackling a wider range of subjects, such as questioning imperialism for which I gave the example of my favourite film from last year, Mati Diop’s ‘Dahomey’. (If you haven’t seen it, please do so – its streaming on Mubi India.)
Beyond films, I looked at how AI can help stretch boundaries where I presented my AI art series ‘Camera Queens of Mayanagri’ as an example of Indo Futurism. In addition, I also showed a selection of my award winning photographic works to indicate how a new Indian visual narrative is the need of the hour in a hyper connected world. (You can see all this and more at www.nyaybhushan.com).
On the commercial side, obvious challenges remain, from raising financing to monetising distribution but my view is that the more creative the story, the better are its chances of commercial viability. The honest truth is that despite breakthroughs, Indian Indies still reflect a very one-sided view of India focusing on brutal harsh realities, everything from gender violence to casteism and more. Yes, these are VERY essential topics to portray, but surely they can’t be the ONLY topics to inspire great cinema.
Here is a brief summary of what I shared – https://ninalath.substack.com/p/indian-indie-cinemas-global-connect
More importantly, it would be great if this roadmap is an ongoing discussion in the spirit of collaboration which is the bedrock of the indie ecosystem.
Connectment Films 