Bollywood votes: Cinema in the shadow of elections
NEW DELHI : Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come, except when everyone has the same idea. Over a five-week stretch starting 25 January, I saw the same scene play out thrice on the big screen in three different films. First came Fighter, which had a recreation of the attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy at Pulwama in 2019, in which 40 soldiers were killed.
A month later, Article 370 showed the Pulwama attack. A week after that came Operation Valentine, which again recreated the attack and used newsreel footage of the funerals. All three films had actors essaying the role of the prime minister, either attending the funerals or addressing rallies and promising retaliation.
Every other week this year, a film has released that extols the achievements or reflects the concerns of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliates—the existence of Pakistan, the rights of Hindus, the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Since the official announcement of the polling dates (19 April to 1 June), there are some restrictions on campaigning. But films continue to play in theatres across the country that openly or tacitly make a case for the ruling dispensation.
“A particular piece of propaganda by itself is unlikely to shift the way somebody votes," says Aakar Patel, author of Our Hindu Rashtra. “But it all helps. The volume of material—whether it’s through social media or on the big screen or the small screen or radio—will consolidate the message the party is trying to send out." These films range from big studio releases to shoestring provocations.
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