Now Showing, For Everyone

From theatres to streaming platforms, audio description is opening new doors, yet true accessibility across Indian screens is a work in progress

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THE waves crash against the shore as a small boat scrapes onto the sand. Dharmadas helps his wife, Vasanthi, and their two sons, Nithushan and Mulli, onto the unfamiliar beach. The air smells of salt and damp earth. Behind them lies Valvettithurai as a memory now. Ahead, Rameswaram and a sense of hope.

This opening scene in Tourist Family, a Tamil film, was screened with audio description at Ability FEST2025 in Chennai. It is rich with mood and movement, which most of us can easily understand with wholesome visuals, emotions, and sounds. But what happens when someone can't see the screen? Or hear the nuance in a voice?

After watching a movie, many cinema buffs share thoughts about it the moment they walk out of the theatre. They post Instagram stories, write reviews on Letterboxd, or talk about it with friends. But for many Persons with Disabilities (PwD), even this basic connection to a story—the joy of reacting to a scene or simply following what's going on—depends on something far more fundamental: access.

To create meaningful access, we need to recognize that disability is not a single, uniform experience. For instance, visual impairment can range from partial sight to total blindness. Each person may need different forms of support. Professor Miranda Tomkinson, an Anglo-Indian academic who has a hearing and visual impairment, made it clear at the screening. He communicates using a tactile device through his communicator and a psychotherapist, Haripriya. "I don't want sympathy. I want understanding. Disability is not a tragedy; ignorance is. The media only shows some kinds of disabilities. They pick only a few. What about the rest of us?," he asked.