In mid-2000s, India witnessed a sudden rise in documentary filmmaking, taking on both social and political issues plaguing the country. These projects were an alternative to the clichéd commercially driven movies, and the reason why Pratirodh Ka Cinema (Cinema of Resistance) was born in 2006. Sanjay Joshi, an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia, recalls, "Jan Sanskriti Manch (JSM) is a cultural group based in Uttar Pradesh; its members wanted to introduce new activities and had invited me for a preparatory meeting in Allahabad in September 2005. I suggested that they start a film festival that wasn't elite, and highlighted people's problems. The first edition of Cinema of Resistance was organised in Gorakhpur on March 23, 2006, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Bhagat Singh's martyrdom."

The aim was to break structures and hierarchies hitherto set by film festivals. "We decided not to take sponsorship or government support; that would mean screening politically correct cinema. We have been committed to presenting stimulating films by tough-minded independent producers, who challenge our social and political reality," says Joshi, national convenor.