Releasing a film is tough, says Sanjay Suri

You can make an inexpensive film, but you can't release it cheap. Huge mainstream films are supported by big marketing budgets, but these small films are usually content driven and they don't have a space to be shown or exhibited," Suri told PTI.

Suri has produced films like 'My Brother Nikhil', 'Sorry Bhai' and 'I Am', all of them have been offbeat movies. "The Mumbai Film Festival definitely becomes a good platform for a film to get discovered. It reaches out to audiences that like to watch independent films, be it Indian or world cinema.u00a0In the current scenario there is no place for art house or independent films," he said. Suri is one of the jury members for the first section 'Dimensions Mumbai' at the ongoing 14th edition of Mumbai Film Festival which began October 18.u00a0

As films do get promoted heavily these days, Suri thinks one has to jump onto the bandwagon, at least to get noticed. "It is not a personal choice. It has become the rule of the jungle. If you don't do it, you are left out and you don't get noticed," Suri said. Suri feels that if there is no awareness of the film, then one does not get to show films in theatres. "If there is no awareness about the film, the theatre does not give you show timings. There is zero government support and films are heavily taxed," Suri said. u00a0