By: Syed Shahzaib Haider
Seeing Bollywood since I was a kid, I never assumed Bollywood being one of the largest film industries in the world, would fall into the grip of a horrible mindset of Hindutva regime; one that is ardently inspired by Nazis fascism.
The industry represents a vital part of the cultural diplomacy that has been effective in projecting India’s lenient side during all this time. But subsequently when (BJP) came into power, the industry has been stained by anti-Pakistan, Islamophobia and pro-BJP content that hides the diverse and cohesive themes it once used to promote.
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.
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 loose 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.
later, when singer Rihanna 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 models of the above mentioned global Western icons.
Some rational voices say for example Salman Khan, Mahesh bhat any more out there in India openly resisting the ever expanding blow of right-wing forces, they are largely limited by the state-sanctions.
People in India can only 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 unduly criticized for expressing valid takes on India’s lineage into chaos. In a related matter, prominent stars and supporting actors such as Ajay Devgn, Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher have shown some worrying views.
At the onset of the new millennium, Bollywood was known for promoting love, peace and harmony in a broader context and positively captivated large audiences globally. Yes, some of the movies were completely unalike. 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 anger of right-wing, 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.
A soft rule becoming fundamentalist across the globe, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, the rapid increase of Hindutva politics in India, a key front-runner of the Global South, is so unhelpful for the country’s long-term stability. After Nazis BJP’s India will end in nothing but misery. Thus, Bollywood better to switch the hatred before it’s too late.
The writer is Director of the editorial board at the ‘The Dayspring’. He can be reached at [email protected]