Kamal Haasan Champions Freedom of Independent Cinema at IFFI 2025

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan highlighted the challenges faced by independent cinema in India, stressing its freedom and uniqueness, during the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2025 in Goa.

Walking the red carpet ahead of the screening of his latest production Amaran, Haasan said, “Independent cinema is very independent, as free as India… don’t bring it into a confining space of a very commercialised cinema.”

Haasan, 71, is renowned for his contributions to Tamil cinema, successfully bridging experimental and mainstream films with hits like Apoorva Raagangal, Nayakan, Thevar Magan, and Sadma. He added that indie films shouldn’t be forced into the same mould as commercial films and acknowledged the long-standing challenge of limited theatre space, stating, “Yes, that's been my complaint for about 40 years.”

Amaran at IFFI 2025

Haasan was joined on the red carpet by Amaran stars Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi. The film, based on the life of Major Mukund Vardharajan who was killed in action in Kashmir in 2014, serves as the opening film of the 56th IFFI.

Adapted from the book India's Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes, the movie is directed by Rajkumar Periasamy. Haasan was most recently seen in Mani Ratnam's Thug Life, marking their first collaboration in nearly four decades, though the film was a commercial failure.