The rise of right-wing dramatic films

Films directed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Guduru Narayan Reddy “Razakar: The Silent Massacre of Hyderabad”is based on the 1948 annexation of Hyderabad to India and is scheduled to be released on March 1. “Swatantra Veer Shavalkar”is a film based on RSS leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and will be released on March 22nd.

Both films have some similarities in that they touch on the history and political situation between British colonization and India’s independence.

upcoming movies

According to a report by Al Jazeera, Nearly 10 films glorifying Prime Minister Modi’s “new India” are or are scheduled to be released before the 2024 Sabah elections. The BJP is aiming for a hat-trick by becoming a centrist government for the third consecutive term.

The movie will be released in February Article 370, which talks about the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019, was released under Reliance’s banner Jio Studios. On February 20, a few days before the film’s release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the film at a rally in Jammu and encouraged people to watch it.He said, “I hear there’s a movie coming out this week, probably about Article 370. I think it’s about you.” “Jai Jai Kaal” (The cheers) will echo throughout the country. ”

IMDb says the film is “a captivating cinematic masterpiece that perfectly captures the essence of complex sociopolitical issues.”

Two of the upcoming films, “Accident or conspiracy: Godhra” (released March 1st), “sabarmati report” (released on May 2nd). The film is based on the tragic Godhra train burning incident in which 59 Hindu pilgrims and Karshevaks were burnt to death and ultimately led to the infamous 2002 Gujarat riots, and shows the ‘truth’. It is claimed that there is.

Looking at each trailer, you can see how the stories are woven to please the Hindutva audience and give Narendra Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat, the image of a caring and gentle leader.

The riots claimed more than 1,000 lives, most of them Muslims.

Released on February 16th, Aakhil parayan kab tak? (How long must we flee?), which shows the supposed “exodus” of Hinduism by Muslims. IMDb describes the film as a “cop faces a personal struggle in a deceitful town where dark forces exploit the community’s sentiments.”

All the films are scheduled to be or have been released in the South Indian languages ​​Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada.

Rise of the Islamic villain

Interestingly, many of the film’s antagonists are Muslims. Plots often revolve around Muslim invaders in history or Pakistan, a Muslim-dominated country in the present-day scenario. The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party played a prominent role in attracting voters by creating an Islamophobic conspiracy.

Ira Bhaskar, a former professor of film studies at JNU and a member of the country’s censorship board until 2015, defines this trend as an attempt to “take over the Hindi film industry”.

“In recent years, we have seen a change in the representation of Muslim rulers, with all of them now being portrayed as barbarians and destroyers of temples. This was also propaganda, but less directly. But the message was ‘Muslims do not belong to India, they are invaders,”’ Bhaskar said. Al Jazeera.

Boycott Bollywood or sail with the tide?

In 2021, popular streaming platform Amazon Prime releases web series Tandav. The maker and his OTT platform had an FIR registered against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindutva organizations for containing anti-Hindu scenes. Amid the boycott, the producers were forced to make changes to the script.

One film producer, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that the incident had sparked fear among colleagues and streaming platforms. “In many cases, ideas are rejected or changed in the pre-production stage, as creators are constantly censoring themselves, and in the current political climate, content can be potentially litigious. Because we are predicting some trouble,” said the film producer. Al Jazeera

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Filmmakers who subscribe to the views and ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has always been anti-minority, are often rewarded with tax breaks, the Prime Minister’s own endorsement, and national awards.

This was seen in the following cases: kashmir file, won two national awards: Best Feature Film on National Integration and Best Supporting Actress. This came after the film was heavily criticized for being a propaganda film, misleading facts and not doing proper research.

“When making a political film about an event or incident, the onus is on the filmmaker to do the research and make sure it is accurate. If you do that, you deprive people of knowledge about what actually happened there,” says National Award-winning filmmaker R. Balakrishnan.

On the other hand, movies in 2023 bead Anubhav Sinha’s film, which depicts the hardships faced by Indians from all strata of society during the first coronavirus lockdown, had a small audience in theaters. There were no cries, no exemptions, no support from prominent leaders of the ruling party.

Prime Minister Modi’s relationship with Indian cinema deepens

Aditya Dhar, January 2019 Uri: surgical strike And Mr.Vijay Gutte accidental prime minister Freed. Uri The operation is based on one carried out by the Indian military in retaliation for the 2016 attack on a military camp in Kashmir’s Uri district. 19 soldiers died, accidental prime minister The remarks were a sharp criticism of Mr. Modi’s predecessor, former prime minister and senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh.

Both the films were released before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Prime Minister Modi has maintained good relations with the Hindi film industry. A high-profile interview with Hindi superstar Akshay Kumar and gatherings with Bollywood actors are strategically placed moves to project an image of a thoughtful and committed prime minister.

According to Professor JNU Bhaskar, this trend has been observed since 2014. At the inauguration ceremony of Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai in October 2014, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Ayesha Bhosle, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, Gulzar. Sonu Nigam and Sonakshi Sinha attended a meeting with the newly elected Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister Modi.

Another meeting with Prime Minister Modi was scheduled for 2019. This time, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Sonu Nigam, Rajkumar Hirani, Anand L. Rai, Sonam Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Sonu Nigam, Sajid Nadiadwala, Jacqueline Fernandez. , Anurag Basu, Pritam, Kapil Sharma, Imtiaz Ali, Rakul, Preet Singh, Dinesh Vijan, Varun Sharma, Nitesh Tiwari, Ayan Mukerji, Boney Kapoor, Ajay Bijli to name a few. Ashwini Tiwari and Ekta Kapoor were present.

January 22, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kangana Ranaut, Vicky Kaushal, Ayushman Khurrana, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi and more from the Indian film industry stars were in attendance.of Plan Pratita Ceremonies at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Professor Bhaskar said this trend will only deepen in the future as Indian audiences are increasingly exposed to right-wing propaganda films, adding that the time has come when big stars, including the Khan family, will be forced to serve the Hindutva ideology. He said that. “This is no longer a one-off, nor is it tied to events such as polls. Rather, the scale of such films will grow from here on out. They are heavily promoted for propaganda purposes and have big budgets. “You’re going to see movies being made that cost a lot of money,” she said.