Bollywood And Propaganda

[ramana]

In pre-Independence era both national and regional cinema made films in the following themes - historical and social. After Partition Hindi cinema suffered an exodus of talented artistes to Pakistan but also saw a national resurgence. Three great actors made their mark - Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. All made films with a national purpose - integration, social reform while providing entertainment. The Indian film heroines started belonging to the majority population as working in films lost its stigma of an earlier age. The sixties saw the rise of the patriotic films like Haqeeqat and Upkar. Hum Dono was the only major film dealing with war and its consequences. The late sixties and the seventies saw the effect of criminals financing films. Most of the angry young man films of that age tried to rationalize criminal behavior. Most would depict smuggled goods as props to expose the masses to such merchandise. This period started seeing the first effects of the Film Institute of Poona graduates who started making movies exposing social evils in the rural areas. The Film Institute graduates made movies with social awareness as a major theme. The eighties and early nineties were a lost era of violent movies. Common themes were the corrupt police and justice system, again rationalizing criminal behavior and undermining existing state institutions. The Mumbai bomb blasts in 1992 and the Sanjay Dutt case revealed the nexus between anti-national criminals like Dawood Ibrahim and prominent film personalities. The trend for antiestablishment and violent movies was put back with Hum Apke Hain Kaun and its imitators - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hain etc. As a result of globalization, the industry is now making sappy movies with deracinated actors trying to appeal to the NRI / urban RNI crowds. Having seen Hum Tum last night is an example of a movie copied from Hollywood and not indianized sufficiently. The industry is caught in a vice grip of the criminals who want to justify and rationalize their behavior and the Left types who want to reform the society. The promise of peace with Pakistan has brought these two forces together and they are now working to undermine the national security forces. Main Hoon Na has two levels of story. The technical side the stunts are awe inspiring and rank with the best in the world. At the subterranean level there are some themes I found disturbing. First the Army is shown to be indulging in criminal behavior and is tarred with the 'fake encounter' broad-brush stroke. I find that there is a desire to exploit North South divide. The naming of the principal opponent of the peace process with South Indian name is in that mode. As an aside most of the security policy wonks in India are South Indians. There were minor quibbles like the title of the role played by Kabir Bedi- Commander -in-Chief went out with the British. But a major quibble is the accommodating nature of the Army brass for their own. He assigns Shahrukh to provide security cover for his daughter so that Shahrukh can meet up with his lost sibling and stepmother. This smacks of abuse of privilege. So there is a subtle undermining of the state institutions whether intentional or not is not clear yet. In summing up there are trends in Bollywood of a subtle and not so subtle campaign to undermine Indian state institutions. Manoj Kumar would stand no chance in today's Bollywood.

Forty years ago the US faced similar situation when Hollywood was in the grip of the veterans of the Spanish Civil War and Ronald Reagan stood up and helped re-orient the priorities. When will an Indian Ronald Reagan emerge in Bollywood?