BOLLYWOOD’S BANE
A ‘TIDAL CHANGE’ IS SEEN IN BOLLYWOOD WHICH HAS BEEN VEERING TO THE RIGHT DURING THE PAST DECADE OF THE ‘MODI ERA’
For nearly a century, Bollywood has held a mirror to Indian society, the plotlines of the world’s most prolific movie industry reflecting the changing tides of a vast, developing nation. India’s multibillion-dollar movie industry produces around 1,500 to 2,000 films per year in over 20 languages – more than any other country. And most of these are Hindi films, meaning Bollywood holds an outsized influence on the country’s culture, identity and economy.
And while the industry is perhaps most famous for its lavish musical productions, many films also tackle the political, religious and social issues of any given era.
But where Hindi cinema once reflected certain secular, democratic values championed by India’s founding fathers, many critics say the industry has veered toward the right over the past decade – coinciding with the populist rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Alarmed liberals and some industry insiders point to a string of recent blockbusters that they say perpetuate anti-religious stereotypes and sideline opposition views. While they only represent a fraction of movies produced each year, they receive outsized publicity and sometimes government support – and critics worry they serve as propaganda tools for the BJP.
Observers and insiders say the change is profound – as if Hollywood was increasingly pandering to the Republican party’s most right-wing sensibilities.
These types of films swap the common romantic heartthrob archetype with heroes that champion Hindu-first policies, and villains are almost always Muslims who threaten the country’s majority-hindu population. Even movies without a religious lean are being used to amplify BJP’S domestic policies, critics say.
“There are a lot of these releases coming out now,” said award-winning director Raja Sen in a video interview. “It’s not the kind of thing that you should be allowed to do in an election year.”
While films echoing the ruling party’s views are not produced or directly funded by the BJP, many of them are said to be publicly endorsed by the government.
Though divisive, the prime minister enjoys enormous support across the country thanks to his economic wins, overseas diplomacy and brand of Hindu nationalist populism. Modi’s seal of approval can therefore boost a movie’s audience and bring commercial success, experts say.
“I have seen firsthand this tidal change in popular Hindi cinema, of films not just toeing the government line, but also just becoming … more and more vile,” said Tanul Thakur, a film critic and journalist based in Mumbai, the home of Bollywood, in a phone interview.
“The degree to which we are seeing the infusion of politics in popular Hindi cinema, coupled with … this very blatant disregard for India’s religious minorities, and any kind of multiplicity of narratives … has been very disconcerting.”
CNN reached out to the Ministry of Culture, the BJP, and the regulatory Central Board of Film Certification for comment on the claims made by critics in this story.
A BJP national spokesperson had previously told CNN the party is not prejudiced against Muslims, and the community has benefited from Modi’s leadership, saying, “India’s constitution protects the Indian democracy.”
Every expert who spoke with CNN, however, agreed that the production of pro-government and anti-muslim movies has accelerated during Modi’s time in office.
They pointed to a number of recent releases that pushed that agenda – including this year’s Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, a biopic of a leading figure in India’s Hindu-nationalist movement, and the upcoming JNU, which critics worry will demonise the titular university known for left-wing student activism.
Two of the most famous examples are The Kashmir Files of 2022 and The Kerala Story of 2023, which were both criticised for vilifying Muslims, perpetuating negative stereotypes, worsening religious tensions and distorting historical facts.
Both were also massive box office successes – The Kashmir Files raked in over Us$30mn on a Us$3mn budget – in part because they received enthusiastic government praise.
While the BJP didn’t fund the productions, prominent party politicians, including Modi, publicly endorsed the two movies, and some Bjp-ruled states waived tax on tickets for both. Other states gave police officers and government workers time off to watch The Kashmir Files.
“The Kashmir Files” was based on the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits – members of Hinduism’s highest caste, the Brahmin, or priestly class – from the restive region as they fled violent Islamist militants in the 1990s.
Sudipto Sen, director of The Kerala Story, has similarly denied that his film propagated Islamophobia, telling local media “It has nothing to do with any religion.”
Then there’s the recently released Article 370, also endorsed by Modi, named after the Indian government’s controversial 2019 decision to remove the special autonomy of the country’s only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir. Some media and rights groups slammed the government’s heavy-handed crackdown at the time, while critics of the film argued it distorted the facts and drove a government narrative that the move was essential.
Critics say these types of movies stretch back years during Modi’s tenure – with a similar spate of pro-government films that sprung up around the 2019 election season, including a glowing biopic of the prime minister himself which was ultimately held for release until after polls closed, due to concerns it would serve as political propaganda.
Netflix’s 2020 show A Suitable Boy, which depicts a young Hindu woman being kissed by a Muslim man at a Hindu temple, and Amazon’s 2021 series Tandav, which included depictions of some Hindu deities, are other examples, besides this year’s release of Netflix’s Annapoorani: the Goddess of Food, which follows a high-caste Hindu woman cooking and eating meat as she trains to become a chef.
In all three instances, the filmmakers faced backlash from far-right Hindu nationalists and politicians who called for boycotts and filed police complaints against the streaming platforms and production companies.
Thakur and Sen both lamented the selfcensorship that has ensued, saying there may be countless filmmakers and artists concerned about these issues who feel unable to speak out – which can come at a hefty cost.
Movies are expensive to make, meaning there’s little incentive for filmmakers to produce controversial movies that could be pulled from streaming platforms or censored by authorities – especially for independent creators without much funding, says Darab Farooqui, a screenwriter based in Jaipur and Mumbai.