She was six years old. She was on the phone. She was alone. The car was surrounded. Her family was gone. She kept talking. India almost never let you hear her voice. Now, on June 19, you can.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ finally gets a green light in India. Hind Rajab was a six-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza whose death became one of the most widely recognised symbols of the humanitarian toll of the Israel-Gaza war. In January 2024, Hind was trapped inside a car with several family members while attempting to flee heavy fighting in Gaza City. After her relatives were killed, she reportedly spent hours calling emergency responders for help.
The phone recording of Rajab’s voice to the Palestinian Red Cross Society is used in the film.
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‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ is a 2025 docudrama produced as a Tunisian-French-Palestinian collaboration. It was directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania.
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The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in September 2025, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and received a 23-minute standing ovation. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
The film has some of the biggest names from world cinema on board as executive producers, including Hollywood stars Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rooney Mara, as well as Oscar-winning filmmakers Alfonso Cuaron and Jonathan Glazer.
The film’s local distributor Manoj Nandwana revealed that ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ was submitted for certification in February, aiming for a release before the Oscar season. The initial release date was set for March 6, allowing Indian audiences more than a week to view the film before it competed in the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars.
The film’s distribution rights in India and some neighbouring countries were bought by Jai Viratra Entertainment Limited.
According to Nandwana, the board did not point out any specific issues such as violence, nudity, or political content. Despite this, the film did not receive certification in time for its planned release.
A CBFC member informally conveyed concerns that the film’s release could strain India-Israel ties. No official list of cuts was given, which usually happens when changes are required. Instead, only a verbal concern was shared.
The distributor said the film was screened before the CBFC when Prime Minister Modi was on a two-day visit to Israel, and was held up due to sensitivity and India-Israel relations.
Despite no theatrical release in India, a planned streaming debut on Lionsgate Play in October 2025 also did not happen.
Opposition MPs wrote a joint letter to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, raising concerns over the reported denial of certification by the CBFC, stating that the matter had significant implications for artistic freedom, institutional credibility, and India’s standing as a society committed to democratic values and cultural openness.
The MPs who signed the letter included Jairam Ramesh, John Brittas, Ram Gopal Yadav, Manoj Jha, Salma, Haris Beeran, and Javed Ali Khan.
In their letter, the MPs said that reports about the film board orally declining certification raised serious concerns about whether factors beyond the statutory framework for film certification had influenced the decision-making process.
The MPs stated that the screening of a film is an exercise of artistic expression protected within the constitutional framework and cannot be made contingent upon perceived diplomatic relationships.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also criticised the delay, saying that films should not be stopped because of relations with other countries.
Nandwana responded to the diplomatic concern by saying the India-Israel relationship is strong enough that blocking the film over it made no sense, and pointed out that the film had already been released in the US, UK, Italy, France, and many other countries that also have ties with Israel.
After months of uncertainty, ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ received certification from India’s Central Board of Film Certification, paving the way for its theatrical release on June 19.
The film has been given an ‘A’ certificate.
Nandwana thanked the CBFC for granting certification without any cut to the film, calling it an important step for enabling Indian audiences to engage with this cinematic work. He said he hopes the film fosters empathy, understanding, and constructive conversations among viewers.
‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ is not the only internationally acclaimed film to have run into certification trouble with the CBFC. British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s 2024 movie ‘Santosh’, which was the UK’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards, also failed to obtain a certificate from the CBFC. That film follows a widow who joins the police force to investigate the murder of a Dalit girl. Despite no theatrical release in India, a planned streaming debut on Lionsgate Play also did not happen.
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