Kamal Haasan Urges Indian Film Industry to Cut Waste, Avoid Unnecessary Foreign Shoots

"Dear friends, colleagues, and members of the film fraternity, the continuing crisis in West Asia is deepening and the world is facing growing pressure on energy, trade, logistics, and economic stability. India, too is inevitably feeling the impact of rising fuel, energy, logistics, and production costs. For the Indian film industry, this comes at a time when budgets are already escalating and market recoveries remain uneven. Rising costs will not affect film production alone. Consumer spending patterns for entertainment may also change in the months ahead due to inflationary pressures. The burden will inevitably fall on producers, workers, theatres, distributors, financiers, and the entire ecosystem. If cinema must continue to grow, we must ensure that every rupee spent serves the film, and not merely the appearance of scale," he emphasised.

He spoke about how, instead of relying on foreign locations for shooting, filmmakers should explore and utilise local destinations.

"Let me be clear. Any correction in cinema economics must never come at the cost of workers' wages, safety, dignity, food, transport, accommodation, or humane working conditions. The burden cannot fall on those who labour the hardest. The correction we need is elsewhere: in avoidable waste, poor planning, inflated entourage culture, unnecessary foreign travel, production delays, and the growing disconnect between spending and purpose. Why must every love story bloom only in Paris, and every honeymoon end in Switzerland? Romance, fortunately, does not require foreign exchange. Indian cinema, and Indians, deserve a little more confidence in themselves and our beautiful country. I believe this is the right time for a meeting of minds across the Indian cinema industry," he said.

Kamal Haasan urged "an industry-wide conversation between producers, actors, directors, unions, studios, exhibitors, distributors, OTT platforms, and guilds towards an industry-wide dialogue on how we collectively navigate the economic challenges ahead. "

"Together, we must evolve practical and sustainable operating practices for efficient filmmaking: better shooting discipline, tighter schedules, reduced luxury and entourage expenses, limiting avoidable foreign travel where suitable local alternatives exist, conserving energy across sets and studios, and encouraging sustainable set construction and reuse of materials. Extravagance has often been mistaken for scale. But some of our greatest films were made not with excess, but with clarity, discipline, and conviction. The national call for responsible consumption and collective discipline is a timely reminder that every sector must act with foresight and restraint in periods of global uncertainty," he added.

"The Indian film industry too must rise to the occasion. This is a time for national interest over personal interest. Our industry shapes culture, influences thought, and reaches millions of people every single day; cinema carries responsibilities beyond entertainment alone. Those of us who have received the most from this industry must lead by example first. If we protect the economics of cinema today, we protect the future of cinema tomorrow," the letter concluded.

On Sunday, PM Modi urged citizens to prioritise work from home, cut fuel consumption, avoid foreign travel for a year, adopt Swadeshi products, reduce cooking oil use, shift to natural farming and curb gold purchases amid the West Asia conflict, while addressing a gathering in Secunderabad.

- ANI