Bollywood is playing a supporting role in Indian elections

From April 19 to June 1, 2024, India is going to witness the biggest electoral process in history, during which political parties, among other means, Cinema are also trying to influence the decisions of the voters through

The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a third term in power under the leadership of, has used the medium of cinema more than others to propagate the party’s aims and ideals.

BJP calls India a Hindu nation. The Modi government openly supports films that promote the BJP’s ideology by giving tax breaks and removing regulatory restrictions, especially when such films are being screened in line with their pre-election strategy. are

For example, ‘Sutantriya Veer Savarkar’, a film on the life of an ardent supporter of Hindu nationalism, was released a few weeks before the start of polling for the 2024 elections.

The Indian entertainment film industry is a complex industry that releases about one and a half thousand films annually, and has fans not only in India but across the globe.

These films are characterized by exquisitely choreographed dances, catchy songs, memorable dialogues and historical and religious concepts that make them a favorite medium of communication even for political parties.

Indian popular cinema has a long history of being used for political purposes, actually going back to before independence. As an art historian, I explained in my 2009 book Celluloid Deities: The Visual Culture of Cinema and Politics in South India that cinema used to create a heroic image around political figures in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. was used.

This connection between cinema and politics made it the main medium for the long careers of many charismatic politicians. Some of them include screenwriters and film producers, well-known actors and actresses. After the 1980s, a nationwide trend of using the medium of cinema to capture the attention of voters began.

Mobilizing film buffs for campaigning

Watching a movie in a cinema is an important and enjoyable experience that attracts a large audience. Sociologist Lakshmi Srinivas has detailed in her 2016 book Housefull that the release of highly anticipated blockbuster films in India is like a festival. The most amazing thing during this is the excitement of the audience as they recite the dialogues, dance to the songs and chant in praise of the stars as they appear on the screen.

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In the Indian context, the influence of cinema extends from movie theaters to the streets in the form of advertisements, fashion and soundtracks that dominate public spaces. Art historian Shalini Kakar says that cinema creates an emotional response in the viewer that is similar to religious feelings.

He has discussed some case studies of film fans who worship film stars as deities by building temples to them at home or in shops. These fans celebrate religious ceremonies for their favorite film personalities and organize public fairs for their favorite stars.

But most fans are part of a large and influential group. Media theorist SV Srinivas has written that movie fans can make or break the careers and lives of stars. If a star decides to enter politics, these film fans can actively participate in the star’s political campaign. But if a star does something that fans don’t like, they can easily boycott his films, and even destroy his career.

Alignment of Cinema and Politics

Tamil Nadu’s cinema industry, more than any other region in India, has moved along with the political and social evolution in the region since the 1940s. The ideas of Tamil nationalism were powerfully projected through entertainment films which shaped the course of history in Tamil Nadu in the form of a political movement. Most of the personalities associated with these films used to be present in the party meetings along with the politicians.

I found in my research that the alignment of cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu was aided by the use of the same advertising media. Political parties regularly commissioned advertisers to produce hand-painted ‘star images’ of politicians. A favorite publicity tool for both the cinema industry and party members was the hand-painted plywood cutout. Ranging in height from 20 feet to 100 feet, the images depict charismatic leaders of Tamil nationalist parties such as M Karunanidhi and popular film star-turned-politician J Jayalalithaa.

Film stars are hugely influential in India and are followed by millions (AFP).

Although these political portraits were realistic rather than dramatic, the style and scale of these portraits resembled the cinema star image. In this way he helped transfer the power of the cinema star image to the image of the leader.

I believe that these advertisements played an important role in shaping the identity politics of Tamil nationalism.

Millions of people watched these pictures. When these colorful portraits of movie stars and political leaders were seen next to each other in public, they looked like celestial beings. These images are given a grand reception, they are garlanded with flowers, people dance in front of them, show excitement around the images and pose with them.

Charismatic politicians of the Tamil nationalist movement developed a tendency to combine in their advertising the glamor of film stars, the power of political imagery and the godlike appeal of icons.

The role of cinema in the politics of division

Under Modi’s leadership, three themes have emerged in a group of films that underpin the BJP’s goals and policies and the party supports them: claiming credit for welfare initiatives, Hinduism in society; promoting nationalist beliefs, and increasing tensions between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority communities.

For example, a film released in 2017, ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Ki Katha’ tells the story of a couple whose marriage breaks down due to the lack of a toilet inside the house. At the beginning of the film, an entertaining musical melodrama, the audience is told that while Mahatma Gandhi advocated a clean environment, it is Modi who is making this dream a reality by budgeting for the construction of toilets across the country. are making

Another type of film depicts the historical legacy of right-wing Hindu nationalist organizations and their leaders. The film ‘PM Narendra Modi,’ which reminded voters of the prime minister’s rise from poverty, was slated to release just before the 2019 elections. But the Election Commission of India, the body responsible for ensuring free and fair elections, ordered that the film could be released only after the elections.

A third and more troubling genre is politically divisive films. These films depict real incidents of religious hatred in which there was a clash between Hindu and Muslim communities. The scripts of these films dramatize highly biased narratives in which Hindus are portrayed as victims while Muslims are portrayed as villains.

The Kashmir Files depicts Muslims committing the most brutal and brutal acts, and is one of the films that the Prime Minister himself has publicly endorsed (Zee Studios).

Widely seen examples of this genre include the ‘Kashmir Files’, which depicts the mass exodus of Hindus from the state of Kashmir in the early 1990s when they were subjected to a pro-Pakistan armed insurgency by Kashmiri Muslims. was made

The film, which vilifies Muslims and shows them committing the most brutal and cruel acts, is one of the films that the Prime Minister himself has publicly supported.

Film producers and distributors I interviewed for my research agreed that, like election results, it is impossible to accurately predict whether a film will succeed at the box office.

However, if the BJP succeeds, it would be fair to conclude that one element of this hat-trick was the clever support of cinema as a means of party propaganda.

If the BJP succeeds in the coming elections, it would be fair to conclude that one factor in this hat-trick of electoral victories was the party’s clever use of cinema for its propaganda.

Note: This article first This conversation But it was hidden. It was written by Premanda Jacob, Associate Professor of Art History and Museum Studies at the University of Maryland, USA.