Analysis: Bollywood’s Relationship with Narendra Modi’s BJP Under the Microscope as Elections Begin in the World’s Largest Democracy

The delayed release of an Indian feature film The Sabarmati Report has taken another look at Bollywood’s relationship with the country’s political machine as elections in the world’s largest democracy enter their second week.

The political film about the controversial 2002 Gujarat riots was scheduled to hit theaters early next month, in the middle of the six-week election period, but has been postponed to August 2. Local reports cited fears of inciting communal tensions as voters go to the polls.

The world’s most populous country has an extensive electoral process that runs until June 1st. By June 5, the world will have known whether controversial Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won a third term in office – a widely expected positive outcome as his tenure at the helm enters its second decade.

With Vikrant Massey (12. Failure) and directed by Ranjan Chandel, The Sabarmati Report The focus is on journalists’ attempt to uncover the cause of the 2002 Sabarmati Express train fire, which killed 58 Hindu pilgrims and sparked unprecedented clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat state where the riots took place, was accused of condoning the violence along with police and other government officials. In 2012, he was controversially acquitted of these allegations by a special investigative team. Last year there was a BBC documentary about the affair titled India: The Modi questionwas banned in India, sparking protests at home and in the UK.

A trailer for The Sabarmati Report (check it out below) was released a few weeks ago, but the premiere was subsequently and quietly delayed for several months. According to local reports, producers decided to postpone after being warned of possible conflicts that could arise in the wake of the elections over a film that could be seen as a pro-Modi take on the issue. Deadline has reached out to producers for comment.

“It is certainly a wise decision to postpone the release of the film,” said Indian film scholar Madhava Prasad. Another Bollywood film titled Jahangir National Universityabout the university, where there are numerous tensions, including blocked attempts to carry out screenings The Modi question in 2023 has also reportedly been delayed, this time indefinitely.

Modi’s government took office in 2014 and has since raised concerns at home and abroad that it harbors explicit prejudice against religious minorities, primarily Muslims. Modi used a speech last weekend to claim that the opposition Indian National Congress party is proposing to redistribute the people’s wealth among Muslims if that party is voted to power. But Indian newspapers, including The Hindu, have since proven that these claims were ripped from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speeches almost 20 years ago. The Indian National Congress has since filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India accusing Modi of violating rules that ban political candidates from engaging in activities that could exacerbate religious tensions.

Distortion of history

The Sabarmati report The delay comes as Bollywood’s relationship with politics comes into the spotlight following a recent increase in film releases and promotions accused of stoking social tensions and allegedly distorting history. Films under the microscope include: Swatantra Veer Savarkar, The Kerala Story And Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad.

The former comes from actor-director Randeep Hooda and is about the controversial 1930s Hindu nationalist leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who was famously opposed to Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent strategies. The real Savarkar was believed to have held that nationality should be based on the “unity of thought, religion, language and culture” and frequently compared the Muslims of India to the Jews of Nazi Germany. He once said publicly: “Indian Muslims as a whole are more inclined to identify themselves and their interests with Muslims outside India than Hindus who live next door, like Jews in Germany.”

Earlier this month, national broadcaster Doordarshan drew criticism for airing a controversial film The Kerala Story, which is about a group of women from the southern Indian state who are forced to join the Islamic State. The 2023 release, initially banned in West Bengal to keep the peace before the all-India ban was lifted by the Supreme Court, was marketed as the basis of a true story and explicitly promoted by Modi’s BJP. Modi has publicly praised the film and observers have pointed out that Kerala is one of only eight states never ruled by his party. The Kerala government has repeatedly criticized the Modi machine for what it sees as nationalist decisions, such as the recently enacted Citizenship Amendment Act, which drew global criticism for being the first Indian law to explicitly include religion as a criterion for used citizenship.

Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabadmeanwhile, depicts the violence perpetrated during the rule of the Islamic Nizam in the pre-independence Hyderabad region. Given that the film is produced by BJP member Gudur Narayana Reddy, the film has also created a buzz.

“Contribution to the atmosphere of fear and terror”

“I personally doubt that these films will directly contribute much to electoral success,” Indian film scholar Prasad told Deadline. “What they are all doing, big and small, is contributing to the atmosphere of fear and terror in which more and more Indians live today, especially Muslims, who are constantly subjected to vicious attacks of all kinds, both physical and physical.” symbolic.”

Prasad criticized the “lapdog”. [Indian] Media” for providing “free advertising” for these films, but said that after release they often “disappear without a trace after a short period of time.”

Sidharth Bhatia, founding editor of The Wire, one of India’s few remaining independent newspapers, said the plethora of films “likely confirms people’s views and prejudices” rather than influencing voters’ decisions. “Now there are so many films that their impact is bound to diminish,” he added.

The Bollywood film industry has historically featured prominent Muslims, including popular veterans Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman Khan. In a television interview in 2015, Shah Rukh Khan criticized the government, saying: “Religious intolerance and unsecularism are the worst kind of crimes that a patriot can commit in this country.” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shot back and warned him to “remember that if a large mass of society boycotts his films, he would have to wander the streets like a normal Muslim.”

Khan has remained silent on political issues since his son was taken into custody on drug charges several years ago. The Pathan The star’s recent silence reflects how few figures in Bollywood have spoken out against the government in the last decade, with the exception of younger filmmakers like Dibakar Banerjee (pleasure stories, Khosla’s Nest). In an interview with The Indian Express on Wednesday, Banerjee called the industry an oligarchy controlled by four or five big companies. “It is a fight between the oligarchy and the state,” said Banerjee, whose film T-shirts was shelved by Netflix – possibly due to the political climate (Netflix said at the time that the issue was due to timing). “Both the oligarchy and the state give each other too much meaning, reducing the space for the number of contradictory things we can express in a dynamic culture,” he added.

With Modi’s BJP expected to win a rare third term in office, the future of free speech in India’s popular film industry appears uncertain.

“Today there are those who join the powerful, those who try to stay in the safe zone by turning up and smiling for the cameras at important events like the inauguration of the Ram Temple, and those who remain silent and hope that things are changing. said Prasad. “I feel a lot [industry veterans] are confused because they were so used to working in an industry where Muslim participation was essential in all departments that they would not have imagined it any other way.

“So these segments remain internally if you leave them to their own devices. But will they be left to fend for themselves? That’s the real question.”

Deadline has reached out to the BJP for comment.