Sidharth Meer on Why Indie Films Are Running Out of Space: 'We Were Thinking of Opening Our Own Cinema'

Colourist-turned-producer Sidharth Meer did not expect producing to feel like this. “For me as a producer this time it was a bit more hands-on,” he says, reflecting on the journey of Sabar Bonda from Sundance to its September release. Last year, with Second Chance, he could rely on others to shepherd the film. “We had really capable producers actually taking the film forward,” he recalls. This time, he found himself inside the machinery.

“We really need better distribution for the kind of cinema that I like to watch and I like to work on,” Meer says. His concern is that independent films are struggling to find screens. “Independent films have really suffered in these last few years because of a certain dominant monopoly of the larger distributors,” he explains. He also points to what he calls “a lot of apathy from exhibitors in terms of just giving it some share of screen space.”

The more he engaged with the system the clearer the gap became. At one point the conversations took an almost literal turn. “Me and another producer were actually thinking of just opening our own cinema. There is really no space for us,” he says.

The process consumed him to the point where he had to take a step back from his primary profession. “A lot of my colour work took a backseat throughout this. I used to get calls from the studio saying when are you coming and I’m like, listen, I need to sort this out right now and then I’ll be back,” he says. 

Meer believes this cannot be treated as an isolated frustration. “We have to fix the distribution problem for sure. This is something that cannot wait any longer. I’m going to try and do as much as I can as a producer to make sure that we can at least make some movement on this,” he says.