Films like “Uri”, “The Accidental Prime Minister” and “Thackeray” have made a brazen attempt to influence voters before the 2019 General Elections. All three movies are helmed by people connected to politics in one way or another.
Uri: The Surgical Strike
BJP MP Paresh Rawal plays NSA Ajit Doval in the film. The catchphrase ‘New India’ has been used several times in the movie, which has been mouthed by PM Narendra Modi on various public platforms. It is basically Modi’s version of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ‘Shining India’. The phrase is of course accompanied with a background score crescendo and close-ups of key government figures.
The Accidental Prime Minister
Veteran actor Anupam Kher, the husband of BJP MP Kiran Kher and a well-known sympathizer of the government in power, features in and as the Accidental PM. The movie takes its name and the basic plot from the book written by Dr. Sanjay Baru, the media advisor of PM Manmohan Singh during UPA 1.
Dr. Baru has already stated that the movie is not an apt portrayal of the book. In fact, several major scenes in the movie are not even part of the book. He also concedes that some fringe scenes in the book have been taken as the undertone to exaggerate the servile behaviour of PM Manmohan Singh towards Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Those who have not read the book and would just form their opinion after watching the movie could end up with a highly skewed idea of the functioning of UPA.
When the book first came out just before the 2014 General Elections, BJP scored a lot of brownie points while the Congress had to face embarrassment. Now, almost five years later on the eve of the General Elections, it has popped up once again. The BJP even tweeted it from its official handle. Surprise, surprise!
Thackeray
Thackeray is as out there a film as it can get. Co-written and co-produced by Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, the film makes no effort to offer a justification on the allegations against Shiv Sena founder and supremo Bal Thackeray.
On the contrary, it owns up to the charges of sparking communal tension, using force to disrupt law and order and using violent means in support of both the Marathi language and people. Quite hilariously, tight shots of Thackeray are often punctuated with a roar, thereby suggesting that the man was nothing less than the ‘king’ of the state.
The movie end with a ‘to be continued’ note which means that some more cleanup job might well be in the pipeline. The makers of the film understand that aggressive Hindutva will translate into more votes in the 2019 elections.
Bottom Line
Now, you don’t need to be a distinguished intellectual to smell propaganda in these movies. The elections are approaching and a clear effort is being made to glorify particular political groups in order to draw electoral benefits.
A mere note that characters shown in the movie are fictitious and have no connection to reality is not enough. There is a clear need for more regulations to help the audience differentiate between what is art and what is plain propaganda.