JFF 2026: Sudhir Mishra, Madhur Bhandarkar On Change In Indian Cinema; 'Not Just A Business But Heritage'

Cinema has taken centre stage yet again at the Jagran Film Festival 2026, currently being held in Delhi. Being the largest travelling film festival in the world, the grand event will be held across several cities in India, including Mumbai, Lucknow, Varanasi, among others.

On the first day, ace filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Sudhir Mishra interacted with the young audience in the segment, 'The Price Of Truth: Cinema, Society & the Stories India Doesn't Want To Hear', Storytelling of Uncomfortable Cinema.

The duo talked about the difficulties they faced while creating films on harsh concepts and how things have changed in Indian cinema in the past four to five years.

One of the biggest takeaway from their conversation was about the industry and the audience’s perception of what should be shown in theatres and on screens. Both Madhur Bhandarkar and Sudhir Mishra emphasised on theor intiall struggles of releasing their films on the big screens due to the unconventional topics of their films, and the producers suggest them to release the projects on OTT.

 

 

 

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The conversation also moved to the rise of OTT platforms and if the cinema and theatre going experience are coming to an end, a much discussed topic in the industry. Bhandarkar stressed, “I have always asked the distributors to reduce the price of theatres as it will bring more audience. The experience of watching a movie in theatres can not be replicated at your home. While watching something on your phone, laptop or TV, you might get easily distracted.”

He further added that it is not easy for a person coming from a middle class family to watch movies in theatres every week due to the expensive ticket prices.

Meanwhile, Sudhir Mishra expressed his disappointment at how many theatres are shutting down because people are going there less than before. “Every year, I hear the conversations around the number of theatres being shut down, and then the number still reduces the next year. Single screens are dying too.”

Calling cinema a part of Indian heritage, he added, “This medium is over 100 years old, coming from Dadasaheb Phalke. It is our duty to preserve cinema as it is our national heritage. It is not only a business. To entertain and question the audience’s viewpoint is part of cinema as well.”

With this sentence, the audience cheered for both filmmakers as they echoed their sentiments about cinema and its art.