Daily Times

Being a film buff for the better part of my life, I never imagined a time would come when Bollywood, one of the largest film industries in the world, would fall into the grip of an odious Hindutva regime; one that is ardently inspired by Nazism and other brands of fascism.

Bollywood itself represents a vital part of the cultural diplomacy that has been effective in projecting India’s soft power since the dawn of this century; when it began spreading its wings across the world, catering to not only Indian diasporas but also to the larger South Asian region, Middle East and the West.

Yet in recent years, the industry has been marred by creeping anti-Pakistan, Islamophobic and pro-BJP content that eclipses the diverse and cohesive themes it once used to promote. While it’s true that far-right content didn’t really gain traction when it first appeared in the 1990s, the direction taken under the incumbent Modi-led regime is beyond worrisome.

Domestic and regional political environment is heated to the extent that Pakistani singers and film stars are banned from appearing in Bollywood films. Additionally, there’s been a subtle increase in Islamophobia within the industry with prominent celebrities such as Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan subjected to hate speech and underlying threats that were hardly comparable in magnitude during previous decades.

In recent years, Bollywood has been marred by creeping anti-Pakistan, Islamophobic and pro-BJP content that eclipses the diverse and cohesive themes it once used to promote. While it’s true that far-right content didn’t really gain traction when it first appeared in the 1990s — the direction taken under the incumbent Modi-led regime is beyond worrisome

When The Caravan Magazine, one of India’s leading publications, ran a front-page cover depicting Bollywood star Akshay Kumar as the ‘Hindutva’s poster boy’ in its February 2021 edition, all hell broke lose in right-wing Indian Twitter circles. Coincidentally, the magazine’s Twitter account was also temporarily restricted on the same day but that had to with its coverage of the Indian farmers’ protests that were gaining momentum.

Soon afterwards, when Caribbean singer Rihanna, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and American lawyer Meena Harris (niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris) openly sided with the farmers, India’s state machinery intervened with its diplomatic apparatus picking fights unnecessarily; something that was unprecedented in its history. Thus, numerous Bollywood and cricket celebrities who support the BJP began sharing near identical copy-pasted tweets as if directed to do so. The situation was also exacerbated when party supporters burned effigies of the above mentioned global Western icons.

While there are some sane voices out there in Indian circles who openly resist the ever expanding clout of right-wing forces, they are largely limited by the state-sanctioned process for dissemination of film and television shows.

What most can do is merely write articles, give interviews or express their opinions on social media, but even here, there exists an increasing and real fear of being shunned or cast aside. Prominent music director Vishal Dadlani and Bollywood stars such as Sonakshi Sinha and Taapsee Pannu are a handful of people from the showbiz industry who openly took on the BJP openly through their social media accounts, including Instagram and Twitter. Others such as Sonam Kapoor-Ahuja, who also happens to be the daughter of Bollywood megastar Anil Kapoor, had subtly expressed her political views against the BJP by retweeting stuff sympathetic to the cause of Indian farmers and the people of Jammu and Kashmir, though she later removed those pertaining to the latter without explanation.

Even those who do not have a social media presence of any kind, such as Naseerudin Shah, had been unjustifiably criticised for expressing valid takes on India’s descent into chaos. In a related matter, prominent stars and supporting actors such as Ajay Devgn, Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher have shown some worrisome views that casts them firmly in the role of BJP courtiers. I often wonder what made them become so ill-hearted. As actors, they appear inclusive in numerous films yet their real life personas are menacing.

These are some of the underlying issues faced by those who advocate for liberal ideas across India’s media and film industries.

At the onset of the new millennium, Bollywood was known for films such as, ‘Main Hoon Na’, ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’, ‘My Name is Khan ‘and ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’. These promoted love, peace and harmony in a broader context and successfully captivated large audiences globally. Yes, there were other films that dived into tense political and regional issues, such as ‘Fiza’, ‘Mission Kashmir’ and ‘Badal’ — but all had a lesson to provide and had nothing to do with promoting right-wing politics, like nowadays. Moreover, streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have also faced the ire of right-wing audiences across from India, especially when they ran shows such as ‘Leila’ and ‘Tandav’. However, there have been instances where Netflix also approved controversial shows such as ‘Betaal’ and ‘Sacred Games’, which had a handful of Islamophobic and anti-Pakistan takes.

Another example of how the right-wing BJP regime destroyed Bollywood’s integrity is when it demanded that film content be changed at the last minute owing to regional hostilities with Pakistan. This was the case with ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2016) when some characters’ origins were changed to omit their Pakistani roots, as had appeared in the original script.

With soft power becoming pivotal across the globe, especially in light of the pandemic, the sudden rise of Hindutva politics in India, a key leader of the Global South, is destructive for the country’s long-term stability. Following in the footsteps the Nazis will end in nothing but misery. Thus, Bollywood needs to introspect sooner rather than later and counter fascism in a singular voice.

The writer is Associate Editor (Diplomatic Affairs), Daily Times. He tweets @mhassankhan06