American media outlet CNN examined how Bollywood has become conservative under the rule of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was stated that the huge cinema industry, which produces 1,500 to 2,000 films a year, “has a great impact on the country’s culture, identity and economy.”
However, it has been claimed that Indian cinema, which used to represent secular and democratic values, has shifted to a conservative line in the last 10 years, in line with the policies of the radical right-wing Indian People’s Party (BJP) led by Modi.
Tanul Thakur, a film critic and journalist living in Mumbai, argued that productions that ignore religious minorities, especially Muslims, have increased during the Modi period and said:
I have seen firsthand this sea change in popular Indian cinema, where films are not only toeing the government’s line but are also becoming increasingly horrific. It is very worrying to witness how politics influences cinema so blatantly that religious minorities and all kinds of narrative diversity in India are ignored.
The news noted that the films Kashmir Files, released in 2022, and Kerala Story, released in 2023, attracted criticism on the grounds that they maligned Muslims with stereotypical depictions and fueled religious tension.
It was reminded that the government did not directly fund the films, but Modi spoke highly of both films. It was also pointed out that in some BJP-controlled states, police and public officials were allowed to watch the films during working hours.
Vivek Agnihotri, the director of Kashmir Files, said in an interview with CNN in 2022, “I did not make a film that criticizes Muslims.”
Sudipto Sen, the director of Kerala Story, in his statement to the local media last year, rejected the criticism of Islamophobia and claimed that the film targeted ISIS.
The news also pointed out that Hindu nationalists, strengthened by the radical right-wing policies of the BJP, reacted to films that criticized the government or dealt with “sensitive issues”.
It was reminded that in the Netflix production A Suitable Boy, released in 2020, the scene in which a Muslim man kisses a young Hindu woman in a Hindu temple attracted great criticism from conservatives.
Annapoorani, which was released on the same platform in 2023, also attracted reaction on the grounds that it “did not comply with religious sensitivities”. Netflix then removed the movie from the platform. The radical right-wing organization Vishva Hindu Parishad described the platform’s decision as a “victory”.
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