With free tickets and false claims, The Kerala Story is one of many polarizing Indian films and sparking fears that Bollywood is producing massive cultural propaganda to bolster support for the country’s ruling party ahead of the country’s general elections. .
Excerpts from the anti-Muslim smash hit depict “innocent girls trapped, transformed and trafficked for terror,” adding that the film was “inspired by many true stories.”
The film, about the fictional story of a Hindu woman who converts to Islam and is later radicalized, is the second highest-grossing Indian film of 2023 so far.
Critics have accused the film and others recently released of peddling lies and fomenting division, including by demonizing Muslim minorities, ahead of next year’s national elections.
“I would advise all political parties to take advantage of my film… Use it to your political advantage,” said director Sudipto Sen, responding to an AFP question about the film’s political leanings.
A man holds a poster containing statements against the making of an anti-Islam film in Jammu, India, September 21, 2012.
The world’s largest democracy has a long history of film censorship. However, the opposition says the country’s film industry is increasingly producing films containing the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government.
The immense appeal of cinema in India makes it an unparalleled medium for reaching the public, says journalist and writer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
During Modi’s presidency, films were increasingly used to spread messages of division that reinforced the prejudices that political leaders had, he told AFP.
“The same thing these films do, to bring hate to people… to create prejudice against religious minorities,” he added.
A series of recent military-themed films tell the story of the heroism of nationalist – usually Hindu – soldiers and police against enemies from inside and outside India.
“Films have always been used as a means of propaganda, isn’t Hollywood the same way?” says seasoned director Sudhir Mishra, referring to the volumes of Rambo films starring Sylvester Stallone.
“I really feel Bollywood is being attacked and isolated.”
Residents look at a motorbike that was charred during a riot between Muslim and Hindu groups in Sohna, near New Delhi, Indian capital, August 1, 2023. (Photo: Vinay Gupta/AFP)
Some of the recent hit films include The Kashmir Files (2022), which depicts in grisly detail how hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled Muslim militants in the Indian part of Kashmir in 1989-1990.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Godhra film will chronicle a train fire in 2002, which killed 59 Hindu pilgrims and sparked deadly sectarian riots in Gujarat. In the trailer, it is described that the violence was a “conspiracy” that had been planned.
At the same time, the Indian government has silenced critics, including banning the showing of a BBC-produced documentary about Modi’s role in the violence in Gujarat.
The Indian government called the BBC’s coverage “hostile propaganda and anti-India trash.” (rd/rs)
