Independent Hindi films are not earning as much revenue as they did even four-five years back and such small-budget movies should be run for at least a week in theatres for word-of-mouth promotion, director Vikramaditya Motwane has said.
An independent film or ‘indie film’ is a movie that is brought out mainly by people outside the mainstream industry, generally without the involvement of major studios.
"What is happening is unfortunate. Filmmakers and writers are experimental. They are coming up with new ideas, but the audiences are fewer. Hindi indie films are struggling now to get an audience when compared to the response received by films like Court or Masaan a few years back," Motwane said.
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Court (2014), Chaitanya Tamhane’s directorial debut, is a courtroom drama involving a teacher cum protest singer who was accused of abetting the suicide of a sewer worker. The film won several awards.
Another indie film Masaan (2015) tells the tale of four persons who confront personal tragedies. This movie won a national award.
“These good content small budget films had got support from the audiences. But the situation has changed post-pandemic,” Motwane told PTI on the sidelines of an event.
Independent films need theatres to be screened so that people can watch them, said the director of Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018).
"If an independent small-budget film cannot run for a week, how can there be word of mouth (publicity) after two-three days? People need to watch it and know its contents," he said.
In the USA with a population of 33 crores, there are 30,000 theatres and, in the case of India, only 10,000 halls serve 130 crores of its people, Motwane said.
If there are more theatres, more people will be able to watch indie films, he said.