Jaya Bachchan accuses Indian government of 'killing' film industry

Senior actor and politician Jaya Bachchan accused the Indian government of trying to ‘kill’ the film industry.

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As reported by Indian media, Bollywood veteran and Samajwadi Party leader Jaya Bachchan urged the Indian government and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, to have ‘mercy’ on the already-struggling film industry, after she alleged that the government is trying to ‘kill’ the industry.

During the Union Budget 2025-26 discussion in the Rajya Sabha, the veteran spoke about the closure of single-screen theatres across the country and accused the government of using the Indian film industry for its own benefit and purpose.

“You have totally ignored one of the industries – the film industry – and sadly, the other governments were doing the same thing,” Bachchan said during the general discussion. “But today you have the opportunity to take it to the next level.”

“Today, leave aside GST, all the single screens are shutting down. People are not going to movie halls because everything has become so costly. Perhaps you want to kill this industry altogether,” she added and urged the government to have some ‘mercy’ on the entertainment industry.

“I am speaking on behalf of my film industry and making a request to this House on behalf of the audio-visual industry, that please spare them. Please have some mercy for them. You are trying to kill this industry. Please do not do this. Today you have started targeting cinema also,” she concluded, urging Sitharaman to look into these challenges ‘very, very seriously’ and introduce measures to help survive this sector, amid the ongoing crisis.

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On the film front, Bachchan, 76, made her acting comeback with filmmaker Karan Johar’s family drama ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’, headlined by A-list actors Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh.