Hindustan Times (Patna) - Hindustan Times (Patna) - Live
‘Indie cinema in India lacks government support’
Actor Sayani Gupta says that it is easier to be a filmmaker abroad, where funding is readily available, in contrast to India, where cinema is largely a ‘business model’
Having worked in a number of independent films before she was seen in Fan (2016) alongside Shah Rukh Khan, actor Sayani Gupta whose films have travelled to film festivals all over the world, says that when it comes to funding, projects on foreign shores have support from their governments and other bodies, unlike in India.
Sayani talks at length about cinema in India vis-a-vis abroad, and rued the decay of the culture of backing the arts and cinema in the country.
“It [lack of funds initially] happens almost everywhere, whenever you are trying to gather money. It is hard for everyone starting out [as a filmmaker], but one thing that we lack is support from the government for funding,” Sayani frets.
“Funding in Europe and other places is much more. People are willing to give you money for whatever you want to make, whereas in India, they would want some sort of monetary return,” adds the Jagga Jasoos actor.
The 32-year-old, who has films like Margarita With A Straw (2014) and Parched (2015) to her credit, also throws light on how filmmaking concerns business models in the Indian film industry, which ends up discouraging budding directors and screenwriters.
“In the West, there is much more access [to] and much more importance given to the arts, and this is something we should totally look into. In the 1970s and the 1980s, when the parallel cinema movement took place, independent films were constantly funded, which is why Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah, and Govind Nihalani could make their films,” she opines.
“There was a constant force behind these filmmakers saying that we are giving you the money, make whatever you want. Now there is nothing. Now you either have to go to studios or constantly be like ‘who has money’,” Sayani adds.