KCC AMI 2025: A jangle of styles and minds

The vibrant and thriving cultural hub of KCC, situated at a quaint nook in Anandapur, EM Bypass, witnessed an illuminating discourse moderated by eminent thespian Sudhanva Deshpande and graced by stalwarts from the arts-Anurag Kashyap, Swastika Mukherjee, Alankrita Shrivastava and Anjum Rajabali

Sagnik, Kolkata, West Bengal

In the history of civilizations, artists navigate through tumult and conflict to resist the culture of authoritarianism. Words and language, thus, form the part of parcel of such acts of resistance. In the present scenario when artists have to constantly be wary and conscious and censorship tends to be normalized as a societal framework, the talk session, “The challenges faced by contemporary Indian cinema”, organized by the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC) AMI Arts Festival 2025 emanates a parallel system established in the absence of government at the cusp of mourning and miasma when new solidarities emerge

The KCC AMI Arts Festival, being held from November 21 to December 21,2025, forms its nomenclature from the Bengali word, “AMI”, which connotes, “Me”. Previously held in 2023 and 2024, this year’s festival is an ode to the power of artforms to celebrate individuality, inclusivity and free expression through proscenium productions, retrospectives, discourses, workshops and curated exhibitions. This year’s festival featured some riveting theatrical performances like Makarand Deshpande’s one-act play, “Piyakkad” or Shubhrajyoti Barat’s adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s “Sleuth” titled, “Saanp Seedhi” by imagining the play according to the Indian context or Jyoti Dogra’s profound exploration of bodily autonomy, “Maas”. However, in an ode to the one of the most prominent voices in the Indian new wave, KCC organized an illumining talk show titled, “Challenges faced by Contemporary Indian Cinema” on December 5 from 6.30 PM TO 9.00 PM held at the KCC Amphitheatre. It followed an insightful conversation, moderated by the Jana Natya Manch thespian and the managing editor to Leftword Books Sudhanva Deshpande, between eminent filmmakers-Anurag Kashyap and Alankrita Shrivastava, renowned actress Swastika Mukherjee and the prominent screenwriter Anjum Rajabali. In an ode to the dialogic approach, the conversations veered from feminism to censorship. Quite profoundly Alankrita Shrivastava elucidated about how the disturbing surge in films glorifying misogyny and hypermasculinity was a culmination of decades of social conditioning that had entrenched patriarchy in the public life and turned filmmaking into a largely male-centric process. “As the audience’s consent has been manufactured systemically, they ought be to be provided with enough autonomy to shape their film choices,” remarked Shrivastava. While Swastika Mukherjee mentioned about the role played by the censor board in perpetuating such regressive tropes that make woman fall prey to the male gaze. Further, the Bengali actress said, “As someone who has spent decades working in television, male dominance has been something innate to the silver screen.” In his staccato manner, Anurag Kashyap critiqued the increase in the role of the State in clamping artistic expressions of which censorship was only the last part and how artistic and cultural frameworks are falling prey to fascist regimes which are sometimes camouflaged and sometimes not. Further, Kashyap remarked his regret as films like Raam Reddy’s “Jugnuma(2025), Neeraj Ghaywan’s, “Homebound (2025)” or Aranya Sahay’s, “Humans in the loop (2025)” struggling to get a platform.  “In this ecosystem where films are falling prey to political battlegrounds and corporatization, audiences bear the sole responsibility to protect the sanctity of cinema. I lament the fact that today we live in an India where I cannot make a ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ or ‘Gulaal’ or a, ‘Dev D’,” Kashyap said. Quoting Karl Marx and drawing parallels to George Orwell’s dystopian magnum opus, “1984”, screenwriter Anjum Rajabali warned about the culture of curtailment, crippling citizens and screenwriters alike being insinuated into the body politic. Further, expressing his admiration for the plurality of Indian folk art and storytelling techniques, the multifaceted screenwriter argued for the case of using melodrama to voice political undertones in films.

Satyaki Trivedi, a student pursuing a degree in B.A. LL.B.(Hons.) from St. Xavier’s University, Newtown, Kolkata, voiced his admiration for the event with exuberance. He said ,“The session hosted at the KCC Amphitheatre had the agenda, “Challenged faced by contemporary Indian Cinema” which is a needful talk in contemporary where cinemas like Homebound or Jugnuma doesn’t get their deserved success in their own country, in a time where propagandist films are on the rise and filmmakers are losing interest to make new films due to the loss they are incurring and new censorships they are facing.”

“ To extract briefly from the session, the price of popcorn is costlier than the movie ticket and Indian cinema specifically the Bollywood is going through a rough patch these are clear symptoms of the crisis. To conclude with the advice of Anjum Rajabali, even though it is going through a crisis that should not restrict filmmakers from making films. It’s like the crisis is like a forest fire and filmmakers have to keep pushing themselves to recover from this no matter how much it is actually impacting. At the end we are all fanatics of Indian Cinema, we all want it to heal faster as soon as possible,” quipped the 18-year-old sophomore.