India, Oct. 22 -- Actor Kalki Koechlin describes the recent world premiere of her short film, Ruhani & Dolma, at the 21st Tasveer Film Festival & Market in Seattle, as "a gratifying moment and the beginning of newage cinema for me and my people back home. Getting audience appreciation and an overwhelming response made me so proud as an Indian," she admits.

The actor feels independent film-making comes with a unique set of hurdles like primarily tight budgets and distribution gaps. Reflecting on this, Kalki shares, "All indie projects are a challenge, whether they're at home or abroad, because you're dealing with very little and absolutely tight budgets with very few to invest. That's what the state is in reality. The challenge with such ...