Film as Propaganda: the Months between June 2023 and May 2024

Tanya Arora

Visual media is widely recognised as an extremely effective means of (mis)leading and shaping the minds of the masses. While some use cinema to raise awareness among its audience, sensitively portraying issues and challenges, others use it to further an agenda. Recent specially commissioned, commercial Bollywood projects, some of which have already been released and many more which are still in the works, fit the latter category, going beyond just any agenda to actually generate community specific stigma and hate. And as is visible from several such public campaigns post 2014, these are targeted against all that is Islamic or Muslim.

Sudipto Sen’s ‘The Kerala Story,’ and it’s not-so-hidden goal of advancing Islamophobia and furthering communal divides by depicting Hindu women being targeted, converted to Islam, and then recruited by ISIS to commit ‘Jihad,’ had already caused plenty of controversy. The film vilified both Islam and the Muslim community, with Muslim men being demonised and an anti-Muslim propaganda was disseminated. That the focal point of the film was also based on misinformation, with unverified claims of 32,000 (Hindu) women being targeted by Muslims for conversion is a moot point. This was later corrected, only after the Courts stepped in. Much damage had already been done.

And now, the trailer for Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s ‘72 Hoorain’, promises to further feed in to anti-Muslim propaganda, has been released.

The first clip begins with the voiceover which says, “Tumne jo Jihaad ka raasta chuna hai, wo tumko seedha Jannat me leke jayega, kunwari, anchhui hui, tumhari hongi humesha k liye. (The path of Jihaad that you have chosen, will lead you to heaven, where 72 virgin girls will be yours forever.)”

Visuals of Osama Bin Laden, Ajmal Kasab, Yakub Memon, Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar are also showcased in the teaser video. The director has said in one of his statements that, “The slow poisoning of the mind by perpetrators turns ordinary individuals into suicide bombers. Let us remember that even the bombers themselves, with families like ours, have fallen victim to the twisted beliefs and brainwashing of terrorist leaders. Trapped within the deadly illusion (and lure) of 72 virgins awaiting them in heaven, they embark on a path of wilful destruction, ultimately meeting a gruesome fate,” reports Zee News. Co-producer Ashoke Pandit opined, “The movie will definitely make you ponder certain beliefs prevailing in the society and how they are a mere figment of imagination. It will make you think about the concepts and ideologies that are not even close to reality in any way, and how they are merely used to brainwash people to mould them into terrorists in the name of jihad.”

As is evident from the description of this movie as well as the words used to promote it, this will be just another anti-Muslim (and anti-Islam) propaganda movie which will depict a Muslim person embarking on the journey of ‘Jihad’ to ensure a place in heaven and enjoy their afterlife with 72 virgin women. As was observed after the release of the Kerala Story, the steady series of release of such propaganda-filled movies appear aimed at Hindu women as the target audience, so that a widespread fear can be instilled in their minds against Muslim men. To substantiate the Hindutva extremist promoted bogey of ‘Love-Jihad’, these fictionalised misinformed movies are now being released.

There are several more such propaganda filled movies set to be released this year in the run up to the general elections of 2024. The teaser for ‘Accident or Conspiracy Godhra’, directed by MK Shivaaksh and produced by BJ Purohit and Ramkumar Pal, has been released and the movie is set to be released in theatres soon. According to the teaser, the film promises to “show the truth” behind what caused the riots. The teaser calls the attack on Sabarmati Express ghastly. Was it a well-planned attack that led to the Gujarat riots or was it a result of a fit of frenzy? The film is ostensibly based on the Nanavati Commission report, which was the commission of inquiry appointed by the government of Gujarat to probe the Godhra train burning incident. The report had upheld the latterly promoted “conspiracy” theory behind the Godhra train fire. The perpetrators behind the Godhra fire involved Muslims from the Signal Falia area and there was no evidence regarding the involvement of any religious or political party in the conspiracy in the post-Godhra violence.

As per the makers of the film, “This movie was made after a lot of hard work and five years of research. Many shocking facts were discovered during the research for this movie, which are well presented in the movie with proof,” as reported by Indiatimes. Again, it is evident from the description that this film will be similar to Vivek Agnihotri directed ‘The Kashmir Files’, which had presented a moulded one-sided movie on the Kashmir exodus of the Pandits and painted the Kashmiri Muslims as the sole perpetrators, forgetting to factor in sufferings of the Kashmiri Muslims into the script. Here too, surely the Godhra movie will not talk of the mass rape burning and murder of innocent Muslims in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning, or the charred remains of dead women and children found and buried in an unrecognisable state. They will not mention Bilkis Bano and her continued struggle for justice, as this will not further their divisive agenda.

Another such movie named Tipu, which is a biopic based on the life of Tipu Sultan- the 18th century ruler of the then Mysore kingdom, had been made a few months ago. The announcement regarding the release of Tipu came along with the country-wide release of The Kerala Story. The said announcement of the film was accompanied by a short video clip that makes multiple claims which come off as Islamophobic in nature. The video clip claims that during Tipu’s time, “8000 temples and 27 churches were destroyed.” It also adds, “Four million Hindus were forced to convert to Islam and forced to eat beef.” It further goes on to claim that “more than one lakh Hindus were imprisoned” and that “over 2000 Brahmin families were wiped out in Calicut.” The film’s poster depicts an image of Tipu Sultan with what appears to be black paint smeared on his face, with the tagline: The story of a fanatic sultan. Significantly, the historical sources on which this movie is said to be based upon are unclear.

The list of propaganda movies planned does not end there. Another forthcoming movie “Ajmer 92” has been deemed as a communally charged movie that has the potential to create a “divide and rift” in the society. Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Mahmood Madanion has urged the central government to ban this movie and “discourage those who are trying to divide society on communal lines”.

So far a quick search reveals that at least 20 anti-Muslim and anti-minority propaganda films are in the making and scheduled to be released before the general elections of 2024. The main agenda behind releasing such movies is to keep divisions rife, the blood boiling, ensuring that votes are cast on this perpetrated hatred and othering rather than bread and butter issues next year.

Powerful politicians from the present regime and the ideological outfits backing it seem clearly out to exploit mass cinema’s potent properties. Playing on the minds and opinions of the public, such films either instil fear regarding the impending Muslim threat to the nation, or glorify majoritarian politics and beliefs, trigger communal violence, control dissent and all opposing parties or forces, including real, alternative narratives. Propaganda films serve as successful political tools used by political parties to shape a nation’s present belief systems. On one hand, they are promote violent anti-Muslim sentiments, while on the other hand, also glorifying a mythical Hindu mythology and past. Movies with such depictions are also slated for release. Adhi Purush, another movie based on the Ramayana, is slated to be released soon. Additionally, the teaser of Randeep Hooda starrer ‘Swatantra Veer Savarkar’ is also out, which attempts to glorify the life of a political leader who was an aggressive votary of an exclusivist Hindu Nation, the Hindu Rashtra.

The Indian public sphere is smeared with perpetrated hate: inflammatory speeches, inciteful and triggering social media posts, stereotypes being promoted, misinformation being spread. All this ensures that opinions are coloured and exclusion then violence results. The 1990s and 2000s have seen the mass targeted violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda, so much of it was enabled with a hysterical mass media, giving coinage to the term Journalism as Genocide. The Bosnian targeted killings also led to the establishment of The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a United Nations court of law that dealt with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. During its mandate, which lasted from 1993 – 2017, this tribunal “irreversibly changed the landscape of international humanitarian law, provided victims an opportunity to voice the horrors they witnessed and experienced, and proved that those suspected of bearing the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during armed conflicts can be called to account.”

Going further back to the period between the two World Wars, Nazi Germany had perfected the art of control over “mass entertainment films” to serve their agenda. Both radio and cinema enabled the regime to reach out to large groups of people, including those who didn’t read newspapers.

No work of art can be entirely separated from its creator’s politics, and the same stands true for the entertainment industry of India. The director’s subject choice, the actor’s choice of character, and the writer’s perspective and understanding of the story are crucial. These become even more important when their project seeks to re-enact and portray a historical event or a person who has had an impact on our present. In such cases, the very thin line between presenting ‘history’ and presenting a ‘propaganda’ is frequently blurred – usually on purpose- and the same is not realised by the audience who is at the receiving end of such films. The recent spike in the release of such films, with their explicit preposterous and altered representations of historical events, personalities, and issues, is nothing short of an ideological and cultural onslaught against the country’s most marginalized. The main goal is to turn the popular imagination against India’s most discriminated, be they Muslims, Christians, Dalits, Adivasis, Women, or the LGBTQIA+ community.

(Courtesy: Sabrang India)

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Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore

Ram Puniyani

Currently as the rightwing wing ideology is gaining ground many a films have already come to promote divisiveness, to glorify the icons of communal nationalism or to demonize the particular communities. In recent times we have seen films on these lines, be it Padmavat, or one on Prithviraj Chauhan, ‘Gandhi Virudh Godse’, ‘Kashmir files’ and ‘Kerala story’. Many of these in the name of artistic freedom are total propaganda films and some of them are very vulgar too. Film makers are rushing to this genre of films as some of them are ideologically oriented in the rightwing ideology, while others are assured of good moolah as those who matter in current political dispensation are out to promote these films for their political goals.

In this chain one new film’s teaser, ‘Swatantraveer Savakar’s teaser was released timed with his 140th birth Anniversary on 28th May when the new parliament building was also inaugurated. The 73 second short teaser makes some statements and all of them are either false or manipulated to glorify Savarkar, the patron saint of Hindu nationalism. Though he was not part of RSS, it was his book ‘Hindutva or Who is a Hindu’ which formed the ideological base of RSS. As RSS did not participate in the freedom struggle, it has been constructing icons which it thinks can be ideologically close to its political agenda. Savarkar is their major choice as in the first part of his life till he was jailed in Andman’s he was anti-British revolutionary. Harping on this part of his life the Hindu nationalists glorify him to the sky.

When Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA came to power in 1998, Savarkar’s portrait was unveiled in the parliament. The debate around unveiling of his portrait also projected the second part of his life when he emerged as the ideologue of Hindu nationalism, ‘two nation theory’ and his collaboration with British authorities.

During his regime Vajpayee planned to give Bharat Ratna to Savarkar, but this proposal was turned down by the then President of India, Dr. K.R. Narayanan. That notwithstanding a plaque was put up in his honor in Andmans. Now during the last nine years as Modi is ruling, Savarkar anniversary is celebrated with pomp and the latest in the series of honoring him was to inaugurate the new parliament building on his birthday.

The teaser states that only few people participated in the anti British struggle and the rest were there to grab power. This is a big insult to all those revolutionaries who, unlike Savarkar rotted and died in Andman jail, to all those Indians who participated in the major anti British Movements – the Non Cooperation (1920s), the Civil disobedience (1930), Dandi March, the Quit India. It is also an insult to the likes of Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad and their colleagues who in the bravest possible fashion put their lives on their palms and stood rock solid against the British Empire. It is an insult to the efforts of Netaji’s Azad Hind Fauz.

Teaser goes on to state that had Gandhi not insisted on non violence India would have got freedom 35 years ago, i.e. in 1912! The script writer must have been in the world of unadulterated fiction to have written this. In 1912, Savarkar himself was in Andamans, Tilak, the major leader of Congress, was in Mandalay prison and Gandhi was in South Africa. That the major role in the freedom of the country was played by non-violence is stating the obvious. The revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, in later part of their movement, opined that non violent mass movement is the path for getting freedom.

Teaser claims that it was Savarkar, who was the source of inspiration for Khudiram Bose, Bhagat Singh and Netaji Bose. Lies should have their limits but not for those who are motivated ideologically especially in sectarian nationalism. Eighteen year old Khudiram Bose was martyred in 1908, a year before Savarkar’s book on 1857 was published, while Savarkar himself was in London from 1906 to 1911. As far as Bhagat Singh is concerned he did mention Savarkar’s book on 1857 and ‘Hindu Padpadshi’ among many other books, not as a source of inspiration but for some quotes. Bhagat Singh was inspired by Gadar party’s Kartar Sarbha, whose photo he used to carry in his pocket. And also by Lenin, whose literature he devoured through and through.

Bhagat Singh was a total contrast to Savarkar. Savarkar pleaded for clemency, offering to serve the British in whatever way they thought fit. He did help strengthen their army in the context of the Second World War and was a recipient of a British pension of Rs 60 per month. Savarkar did not utter a single word when Bhagat Singh was hanged to death.

As far as Subhashchandra Bose, the rumor is spread through multiple mechanisms, that it was on Savakar’s advice that he formed Azad Hind Fauz. There is no truth in this. Savarkar actually was helping the British army when Bose’s army was fighting against the British. Bose was for composite nationalism, while Savarkar was the ideologue of religion based nationalism, two nation theory. Bose was equally critical of Savarakar and Jinnah whom he urged to close ranks and join the freedom movement, while this duo served the British designs of suppressing the national movement.

In his article in The Forward Bloc (his paper) he argued that ‘The Hindu Mahasabha has been doing incalculable harm to the idea of Indian nationhood by underlining the communal differences—by lumping all the Muslims together…We cannot oblige Mr Savarkar by ignoring the contributions of the nationalist Muslims to the cause of India.’

He wrote in the second part of his book, The Indian Struggle, that while Jinnah ‘was then thinking only of how to realise his plan of Pakistan (the division of India) with the help of the British,’ Savarkar seemed to be oblivious of the international situation and was only thinking how the Hindus could secure military training by entering Britain’s army in India.’

In response to the teaser of the film, Netaji’s daughter Pfaff told Times of India, “Like Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji was opposed to the divisiveness based on religious differences. Let Sarvarkar’s followers join Netaji in his vision for India and not hijack him for views that certainly were not his,”

We are living in times where the Hindu right wing is being well served by many in the film world, and this forthcoming film based on falsehoods will be one more example of the same.

(The writer is a social activist and a former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.)