Actor Adil Hussain has a lot of reasons to be happy. His film Footprints On Water premiered at the UK Asian Film Festival recently, with Hussain winning the Best Actor award for the same. Directed by debutant British filmmaker Nathalia Syam, the film also won the award for the Best Debut Film at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF).

“This is the first attempt to make a film on a subject that is generally unspoken of in this part of the world,” says an elated Hussain of the film, which is based on the plight of illegal immigrants in the United Kingdom. Even as this project continues to make waves globally, Hussain rues the fact that despite the attention they receive at international film festivals, such projects are often ignored at home.

“The kind of films that the Indian masses have been given to watch are often typical ‘good boy, bad boy’ [stories]. That’s probably one of the reasons why Indian audiences are not used to watching complex films and their awareness of watching good films is not really cultivated,” explains Hussain, adding, “I’d like to put this responsibility on the filmmakers and tell them that it’s easy to sell films that are black and white, instead of those with grey shades.”

Another major reason why such films often go unnoticed is the lack of funds to produce and promote them, feels the 59-year-old. “Producers [in India] are not ready to trust the content and put in money to bring these films into public consciousness and awareness,” says the actor, adding that unless such films are given their due share of promotion, viewers might not even know of their existence.

Even on streaming, which is often considered revolutionary for cinema and cinema-watching, “People ask, Who is the star?’ Platforms are following mainstream Indian cinema in that regard, except some series”, points out the Tooth Pari: When Love Bites actor, adding that the makers are still searching for buyers for Footprints On Water.