Actor, filmmaker and Member of Parliament Kamal Haasan has called on the Indian film industry to rethink the way movies are made, advocating for more disciplined and sustainable production practices in response to rising costs and global uncertainty.
In an open letter shared on his social media handles, Kamal addressed the potential impact of the ongoing crisis in West Asia and warned that the resulting inflationary pressures could place additional strain on an industry already grappling with escalating budgets and uneven box office recovery.
Every Rupee Must Serve The Film
Kamal noted that the consequences of rising costs would extend beyond film sets and could influence how audiences spend on entertainment in the months ahead.
“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.”
The actor emphasised that any financial correction should never come at the expense of the people who keep productions running.
“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.”
My appeal to our Industry.@ficci_india @producers_guild @tfpcin @TFPCOffl @kfpaofficial @TFCCofficial @imppa_official @federation_film @fwicemum @aifecsocial @aicwaofficial @tfapatn #SouthIndianFilmChamberOfCommerce #NorthernIndiaMotionPicturesAssociation… pic.twitter.com/24WXgYlbHN
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 15, 2026
An Industry-Wide Push For Sustainable Practices
Kamal also proposed a broad consultation involving producers, directors and unions representing technicians and other film workers to create more efficient and environmentally conscious production methods.
“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. The Indian film industry too must rise to the occasion.”
His statement comes shortly after the Central Government urged citizens to conserve resources and use them judiciously in view of the tensions in West Asia.
Kamal has often spoken about the need for structural reform within the entertainment business, both as a filmmaker and as a policymaker. With this latest message, he has once again pushed for a production culture where ambition is guided by efficiency, and where thoughtful planning takes precedence over unnecessary extravagance.
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