Jaya Bachchan requested the Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to provide solutions to help the film industry, says to have ‘mercy’.

On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan said that the film industry is being unfairly targeted. She asked the government to show “mercy” on cinema. She spoke about this in the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the Union Budget 2025-2026.

While appealing to the government Jaya Bachachan said, “One industry has been totally ignored by you, and other governments were also doing the same thing. But today you have taken it to the next level. You have totally ignored the film and entertainment industry because you only use them for serving your own purpose,”

She further stated that, “Today, leave aside GST, all the single screens (theatres) are shutting down. People are not going to movie halls because everything has become so costly. Perhaps you want to kill this industry altogether. This the only industry that connects the entire world to India,” 

Last year, the finance ministry explained that loose popcorn sold in cinemas will have a 5% GST, just like restaurant food. But if popcorn is sold together with a movie ticket, it will be taxed based on the ticket’s GST rate, which can be between 12% and 18%.

Bachchan requests the government to not ‘kill’ the industry.

She also said that, “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 urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take the issue ‘very very seriously’.

She added, “I request Finance Minister to consider and please bring something to help this industry survive,”