May 05, 2025 09:47 PM IST
Vivek Agnihotri warns that Donald Trump’s 100% tariff on films threatens the struggling Indian cinema urging film leaders to unite against potential disaster.
After Shekhar Kapur, Indian filmmakers Vivek Agnihotri, Vipul Amrutal Shah and Anand Pandit have raised their concerns regarding US President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of imposing a 100 per cent tariff on films produced outside the United States.
(Also read: Donald Trump’s 100% tariff on imported films may lead to ‘Hollywood moving outside US’, says Shekhar Kapur)
Vivek Agnihotri reacts
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri stated that the move is a threat to Indian cinema which is already struggling. Taking to his X (formerly Twitter) account, Vivek posted, “Trump’s 100% Movie Tariff Threatens Indian Cinema: Trump’s 100% tariff on movies is a disastrous move. If this absurdity prevails, India’s struggling film industry will collapse entirely, with no one to save it. Indian film leaders must wake up, unite, and fight this threat instead of chasing paparazzi and self-glorification.”
Other filmmakers also raise concerns
Director-producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who recently produced The Kerala Story and Bastar: The Naxal Story, shared his perspective on Trump’s decision and its impact on the Indian film industry.
“There are 2-3 aspects to this. First, there is not much detail about how this 100 per cent tariff will happen. Kyunki hamari jo filmein hoti hai vo bharat ki hi company vahan directly distribute karti hai aur bahut saari kuch filmein hoti hai jo vahan ke distributors hum appoint karte hai aur vo distribute karte hai. To Bharat ki companies jo vahan film distribute karti hai unpe tariff lagega (Because our movies are directly distributed by Indian companies. There are a lot of movies that we appoint distributors and they distribute them. So tariff will be on Indian companies that distribute films there). How will it happen? What will happen? I think there are a lot of nitty-gritties that we will have to see now,” Vipul said in an interview with ANI.
Producer Anand Pandit, who is know for films like Total Dhamaal, Chehre, The Big Bull, Thank God, also told ANI, “It is too premature to comment on US President Trump’s proposed tariffs on foreign films. However, given that this statement comes at a time when the Indian film industry is seeing a reduction in theatre footfalls because of changing audience preferences, it does raise concerns.”
