For the unversed, an "indie" movie is a low-budget film. For the artistic people, indie means the producers did not fully grasp the story, and they had to settle for a low budget, which also gives them a little more leeway in terms of creativity. It's a matter of perspective.

Nukkad Naatak (Street Play) is the latest entrant in the indie genre. If you haven't heard it, it's because it's created by new faces who are outsiders in Bollywood, and that's also what their campaign and marketing have been about. It is also not helmed by Anurag Kashyap, who is widely regarded as a pioneer and leading figure of modern Indian independent cinema.

Directed by Tanmaya Shekhar and starring Molshri, Shivang Rajpal, Nirmala Hajra and Danish Husain, Nukkad Naatak is an honest, coming-of-age indie film that boasts a multitude of themes, such as education, fighting the system, self-discovery, poverty, LGBTQIA, and even bullying. Gosh!! Makes you wonder wwhenthe last time a mainstream had so many themes!

What's interesting is that the team's behind-the-scenes struggles have made the movie a trending topic. The makers faced a multitude of complex issues, including securing a meeting with any Bollywood producer who wouldn't even look at the 2-minute trailer and budget restrictions. The movie was made through crowdfunding with contributions from close friends and well-wishers, as well as large bank loans.

The amount of persistence this took goes to show what lengths talented people can go to to survive doing something they love. Director Tanmaya Shekhar has directed 7 short films and this feature film, who left his cushy IIT job to make it big in Bollywood. The leads, Molshri and Shivang Rajpal, promoted the film in a caravan for 5 weeks across 13 cities as part of their marketing strategy. The team even performed street plays and held a coconut-breaking ceremony to launch the movie’s poster outside Mannat, Shah Rukh Khan's home, whom the team referred to as the "Ultimate Outsider" or the "King of Outsiders".

Mentioning Anurag Kashyap was crucial. Apart from being Tanmaya's inspiration, his gritty films have influenced a whole generation of moviegoers, giving them the option of watching low-budget movies with kick-ass scripts. His most famous film, 'Black Friday' (2004), awasshot using a low-budget, guerrilla-style approach in actual 1993 Mumbai locations without official permission. Using hidden cameras and walkie-talkies to avoid detection, the crew shot in 70 days, recreating the era by avoiding modern cars and, in one case, improvising a 12-minute chase in the Dharavi slums.

What's more, his directorial debut 'Paanch', based on Pune's Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders, was due for release in 2003 but was never given the green signal for a theatrical release by the CBFC due to drug abuse, violence and use of strong language. Vikas Bahl's 2014 'Queen' is perhaps the best-known indie film that struggled to find investors, was shot in public, and had the characters change in public bathrooms for their next scenes, yet became a commercial success.

When you do a quick Google search for Nukkad Naatak, you won't find much immediately. Still, as you dig deeper, you'll know that the team made the film more than a year ago and even bagged the Special Jury Award at the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) 2024. When they couldn't find a distributor for a theatrical release, they did it through a self-distributed, independent, and grassroots approach, bypassing traditional studio backing and OTT platforms, securing around 15 screens for a February 27 2026, release.

Tanmaya and Molshri even have a YouTube channel aptly called 'How to Enter Bollywood' where they currently upload everything related to the movie. Still, you can also view the director's previous projects.

The genesis of Nukkad Naatak was a few kilometres away from Tanmaya Shekhar's IIT Kanpur, at Bagula Basti, where he got the idea to make a film on educating the kids, stemming directly from his real-life example of his mother teaching in a makeshift school in the same basti. In some interviews, he mentioned that the difference between the two Indias sparked the story, which gave birth to Molshri and Shivang's characters (named after them because they, too, strove hard to do something usually deemed impossible).

As for the movie, it begins with a voice-over by Shivan, who tells his story in an e-mail to his dead grandfather. In the first few minutes, you meet the rebellious-slash-activist Molshri with heavy dialogues, "Paiso ka rob hai na saalon ko, sabak seekhate hain,” that marks the beginning of the end for the characters. You'll see nukkad naataks throughout the film to convey subtle messages.

In a scene of the play's practise, the teacher blurts, “Matlab jaan ke kya karoge, ratt lo bas. Exam pass karna hai ki samazna hai?” You find such truth bombs potently placed across the movie.

When the lead characters face an unforeseen circumstance, a relief from their college Director (played by Danish Husain) raises various questions about the duo's activism. In one such scene, the Director asks, "Research karne basti nahi gaye the?", to which Molshri & Shivang reply, “Nahi sir, online hi kari thi research. Ek documentary bhi dekhi thi.” Sadly, that's how most journalism is being done today.

At first, Molshri conducts these "selfless" acts to satisfy her inner rebellion. But as the stakes increase, she genuinely begins to take an interest in helping the poor kids get an education, often teaching Choti (played by Nirmala Hajra) basic things like holding a pencil or encouraging her to stop smoking beedis (leaf-wrapped cigarettes).

While Molshri's arc is invested in educating the needy, Shivang's is more of a personal growth arc, as he fights his sexuality and past bullying, all the while struggling to find the spine to go against the tide before his family. He is self-aware, though. When he has to sleep in his watchman's small quarters, he says to himself, “beggars can’t be choosers”, right after a scene when they fail to convince some parents to enrol their kids into school, who literally beg to survive.

A reviewer, Ujjawal Trivedi, aptly stated that the movie is not a product of money, but a result of persistence, while another YouTube channel, CANI official, said that the film has "no gore, no alpha hero, just people like us," which hits home for many in a country where representation matters.

The movie with a 6.9/10 IMDb rating sans a Wikipedia page is creating waves and for all the right reasons. If there's a show in your city, be a spectator for 107 minutes to promote the team's talent, so others can dare to dream.