Published on: Dec 21, 2025 10:43 am IST
Mohit Suri called out other directors for not going to the theatre to watch films regularly and complaining that the audience doesn’t go for theatrical films.
Director Mohit Suri is one to call a spade a spade. On a recent roundtable discussion about cinema of 2025, the filmmaker called his fellow directors out for not going to the theatre to watch films and then complaining that the audience doesn’t do the same.
Mohit Suri calls out fellow filmmakers
Mohit was part of The Hollywood Reporter India’s directors’ roundtable, where he was joined by Dominic Arun, Neeraj Ghaywan, Reema Kagti, Rohan Kanawade, and Rahul Ravindran. During the session, host Anupama Chopra asked the filmmakers to name one recent film they had watched in the theatre that felt like magic to them. Rohan Kanawade answered Sinners, to which Mohit asked him if that was the last film he saw in theatres.
Rohan responded that he hadn’t had time to watch a lot of films in the theatre. A surprised Mohit shook his head and said, “We all cry about theatres, but you all don’t go to theatres. All of you are crying that no one goes to the theatres. I go every weekend for whichever film releases.”
Rohan then clarified that he did watch a Marathi film a couple of weeks before the interview, but he chose Sinners because that is something where the theatrical experience hit him.
The debate about audiences not coming to theatres, particularly for smaller or independent films, has been raging for quite some time now. Actors like Manoj Bajpayee and Pankaj Tripathi have also lamented the lack of audiences in theatres for small films, which leads to many not even finding releases.
Mohit and Rohan’s recent releases
Mohit delivered one of Bollywood’s biggest hits this year in Saiyaara, a love story starring newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda. The film grossed ₹58,0 crore worldwide. Meanwhile Rohan Kanawade’s Sabar Bonda won the Grand Jury prize at the World Cinema Competition of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
