Negative Muslim Depictions in Indian Movies Spark Concern Ahead of Election
The trailer for this controversial blockbuster, which targets the Muslim community, portrays "innocent girls trapped, transformed and trafficked for terror." The trailer boldly claims it draws inspiration from "many true stories."
Centered around a fabricated narrative of a Hindu woman's conversion to Islam and subsequent radicalization, the film has emerged as the second-highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023 thus far.
Critics vehemently accuse this movie and others recently released of perpetuating falsehoods and exacerbating societal divisions, particularly by vilifying the Muslim minority, in the lead-up to next year's national elections.
When questioned about its political inclinations, director Sudipto Sen responded, "I would suggest all political parties to take advantage of my film... Use it for your political gain," in an interview with AFP.
While India, as the world's largest democracy, has a longstanding history of film censorship, detractors assert that the film industry is increasingly producing works aligned with the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government.
The immense popularity of cinema in India positions it as an unparalleled method of communicating with the public, as journalist and author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay highlights.
During Modi's tenure, films have increasingly become vehicles for disseminating divisive messages that reinforce biases shared by political leaders, as per Mukhopadhyay's insights to AFP.
"The same thing is being done by these films, to take hatred to the people... to create prejudice against the religious minorities," he added.
Timed with the elections in Karnataka state, the release of "The Kerala Story" in May coincided with tensions and clashes in neighboring Maharashtra in which one person died.
Modi publicly endorsed the film during an election rally while accusing the opposition Congress party of "supporting terrorism tendencies."
Conspiracy theories
Critics argue that this low-budget film taps into "love-jihad" conspiracy theories, wherein Muslim men are depicted as seducing Hindu women.
Subsequently, the filmmakers retracted their false claim that 32,000 women from Kerala, of Hindu and Christian faiths, were recruited by the Daesh terrorist group.
In a bid to boost viewership, two BJP-led state governments reduced the tax on tickets.
The film's director says that his work resonated deeply in a nation that has one of the world's largest Muslim populations, approximately 14 percent of its 1.4 billion inhabitants.
"I believe in the power of truth, the truth which we said in the film, and this is what people want to see," he claimed.
Sen's film represents one among numerous departures from Bollywood's traditional song-and-dance routines.
Recent military-themed releases often uphold a nationalist sentiment, portraying Hindu soldiers and police as heroes who combat both foreign and domestic adversaries.
Notably, "Cinema has always been used as propaganda -- doesn't Hollywood?" said veteran director Sudhir Mishra, citing Sylvester Stallone's Rambo series.
Mishra further claimed that Bollywood seems to be unfairly targeted and vilified.
Bollywood as tool for BJP
Preceding the previous national election in 2019, Modi engaged with Bollywood stars, generating substantial social media attention through shared selfies. Reports suggest their conversations revolved around "nation-building."
"The Accidental Prime Minister", a biopic critical of Modi's predecessor and rival Manmohan Singh, was also released just a few months before the vote, although the hagiographic "PM Narendra Modi" had its release delayed by the Election Commission until after polls.
Those movies "seem relatively tame now", documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kak said.
"The new crop of films is strongly ideological and shares the worldview of the ruling dispensation –- which is right-wing, Hindu-nationalist and Islamophobic."
More recent hits include the 2022 blockbuster "The Kashmir Files", depicting in harrowing detail how several hundred thousand Hindus fled Muslim militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in 1989-90.
Meanwhile, the upcoming film "Godhra" examines the 2002 train fire that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims and triggered deadly sectarian riots in Gujarat, with its trailer darkly suggesting the violence was a premeditated "conspiracy".
Simultaneously, the government has tightened its grip on critics, even banning a BBC documentary that scrutinized Modi's role in the Gujarat violence.
The BBC documentary was condemned by the government as "hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage."
Source: Agencies
