Chicago – March 09, 2024
As India’s approximately one billion voters prepare to elect their national government in general elections in March and May, Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are gaining campaign backing from the film industry.
A rush of new films, timed with the elections, rely on stories that either explicitly endorse Modi and his government’s policies or criticize rival politicians. Not even national heroes like Gandhi or prestigious colleges like JNU are exempt; the institution has always been a left-leaning stronghold of liberal education, frequently opposing the BJP’s Hindu majoritarianism.
Many of these stories promote Islamophobic conspiracies that are widely distributed among Hindu right-wing networks that support the BJP’s electoral goal. At least ten such films have just been released or are set to hit theatres and television during this election season.
The most recent films feature biopics that celebrate the contentious legacies of Hindu majoritarian heroes and BJP officials. Savarkar, a controversial anti-colonial Hindu nationalist, supported the rape of Muslim women as a means of retaliation for historical wrongs.
In late February, Modi appreciated Article 370, a recently produced film that praises his government’s disputed decision to deprive Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and statehood while keeping hundreds under house arrest and imposing lockdowns in the territory. Film critics have branded the film a “puff piece” and a “thinly veiled propaganda film” in support of the Modi government while dismissing its opponents and opposition leaders as “derision.”
The rise in such films follows a pattern seen before the 2019 elections when Modi came to power for the second time. On the eve of the elections, many films attempted to boost the BJP’s popularity.
