Bombay Zine Fest and India’s indie print revolution

In an era dominated by digital scrolling, the Bombay Zine Fest offered a counter-narrative. The festival, which gathered over 20 artists and collectives to showcase more than 300 zines, proved that there is a growing appetite for the physical. The message is unmistakable: print is not dead, and the future of diverse storytelling in India is being printed, folded, and stapled by hand.

The zine revolution in India represents a vital counter-movement to the vast, complex machinery of the mainstream book and publishing industry. PrintWeek readers will recall Anthony Paguirigan, category manager at HP PageWide Industrial, stating hard data. Paguirigan noted, “Revenue in the book market is projected to reach USD 5.83-billion in 2025.” Of this, USD 5.13-billion comes from physical books. However, the broader Indian publishing industry is highly fragmented and often commercially driven — this is where zines carve out a radical space for independence.

The core identity of a zine is rooted in its independence, and the Bombay Zine Fest was a demonstration of creative freedom, bypassing the traditional gatekeepers of mainstream publishing. The term ‘zine’ — short for magazine — refers to small-circulation, independently produced, often handmade booklets that have been a platform for marginalised voices, counterculture movements, and personal narratives.


Zines offer full artistic control, providing creators with the necessary space to explore complex and often vulnerable subjects — from social commentary on caste, gender, and sexuality to deeply personal accounts of mental health and daily life — without the constraints of editorial censorship or commercial viability.

At the Nautilus Cafe, the atmosphere buzzed with an energy characteristic of a grassroots movement. The space featured diverse, hand-bound zines, and an array of printed items and art, including stickers, postcards, art and photography prints, journals and diaries, and handmade notebooks. 


In India, popular zine-printing methods include the classic photocopy and Xerox method, a nod to punk rock origins that uses collage and analogue techniques to achieve a deliberately raw and grainy aesthetic. For a slightly more refined look, inkjet and laser printing are popular, using the printer’s “booklet” feature to fold and collate pages. Binding is kept intimate and hands-on, ranging from simple saddle-stitching with a long-arm stapler to decorative thread stitching. The most recent popular trend is Risograph printing, valued for its artistic experimentation.

Items displayed at the Bombay Zine Fest, including hand-stitched journals and limited-run Risograph prints, reaffirm the value of the physical object, creating a sensory experience that digital media cannot replicate. The digital revolution, ironically, has fueled the print comeback. While the mainstream publishing segment sees significant growth in eBooks and digital formats, the zine movement harnesses digital tools for creation while advocating for the enduring value of the physical object.

The fest brought together creators and artists to celebrate and cement the zine’s place as a powerful tool for community building and cultural dissent.