Indian film board blocks release of Oscar-nominated Gaza drama 'The Voice of Hind Rajab'

The release of Kaouther Ben Hania's Venice-winning and Oscar-nominated docu-drama 'The Voice of HInd Rajab' has been blocked by the country's ratings body. Beyond censorship, this decision reveals a shift in Israel-India relations under prime minister Narendra Modi. It premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival to a record-breaking 23-minute standing ovation and went on to receive the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize. It was Golden Globe nominated and made the five-film Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature Feature this year. But despite all these achievements, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab will be banned in India. The Tunisian film about the death of a five-year-old girl during the Israel-Gaza war has been blocked by the country’s ratings body, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).  

In a report by Variety, Manoj Nandwana of Mumbai-based Jai Viratra Entertainment said that he was told that if the film was released, it would “break up” India-Israel relations. Nandwana pushed back on this reasoning, arguing that the film had already been released in countries such as the US, the UK, Italy, and France - many of which also have diplomatic ties with Israel. He said: “I told them: the India-Israel relationship is so strong that it’s idiotic to think this movie will break it.”

Written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, the film depicts the death of Hind Rajab, who was murdered on 29 January 2024. The sole survivor of an Israeli attack in Gaza, Rajab made a distress call to the Palestine emergency services, as the young Palestinian girl was trapped in a car with the corpses of her relatives. She begged for help as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tanks closed in, with the Palestine Red Crescent volunteers trying to calm her and get an ambulance to her location. The rescue attempt failed, as it was confirmed and documented by The Washington Post and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monito that the IDF riddled the car with 355 bullets and killed two paramedics coming to the girl’s rescue.

In our review of The Voice of Hind Rajab, which made our Top Movies of 2025 list, we wrote: “Like her Oscar-nominated film Four Daughters, Tunisian filmaker Kaother Ben Hania fuses documentary and dramatic reenactments; she uses the real-life audio recordings of Rind Hajab’s call and dramatises the response of the emergency workers. (...) Enraging and urgent both in substance and form, The Voice of Hind Rajab is a docudrama that shows the human consequences of a genocidal campaign.”

Reactions to the ban in India have been fierce, with many calling out the decision as disgraceful and labelling prime minister Narendra Modi as an Israeli puppet. This is not the first time that the CBFC has blocked politically sensitive films. For instance, it halted the release of Sandhya Suri’s Santosh last year due to concerns over its portrayal of misogyny and violence in the Indian police force. However, the censorship of The Voice of Hind Rajab reflects a turn in India’s foreign policy. India has historically supported the Palestinians, but the country under Narendra Modi has been outspoken in its support for Israel. Modi undertook an official visit to Israel in February - the first visit by an Indian premier in the 25 years since the two countries established full diplomatic relations – marking a further shift in Israel-India relations. The Voice of Hind Rajab has been released in several territories. Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer got behind the film as executive producers. But despite these heavyweights, some distributors are passing on the film out of fear. Choose to seek out this powerful film, which stands as a devastating elegy to an innocent girl who was robbed of her right to live.