The Rise Of Propagandist Cinema In India’s Nationalist Age

Sudipto Sen’s controversial film The Kerala Story, which sparked a huge uproar for allegedly promoting ideological propaganda, has once again gripped the nationalist discourse. The film won two major awards at the 71st National Film Awards — Best Direction (Sudipto Sen) and Best Cinematography (Prasantanu Mohapatra).

The decision drew sharp criticism from individuals across the spectrum, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who deemed it an “insult to the noble tradition of Indian cinema.” The film had previously triggered similar outrage for allegedly advancing propagandist narratives and was accused of portraying Kerala through a communal lens.

However, this isn’t the first instance where the state apparatus has used cinema and its influence to promote particular narratives across society. The power of cinema as a vehicle for ideological dissemination is undeniable — and when wielded by the state, its impact on public consciousness can be profound.

In the Outlook Magazine’s April 21, 2024 issue Cinema Politico, we looked at the genre of nationalist and propaganda cinema in the Indian context.

Cinema has had a Long Tryst With Distorting Facts And Creating Villains; Tarun Thakur highlights this through a pivotal scene from The Kerala Story (2023), four female students—three of them crying—try to process a traumatic incident: One of them has been molested in a mall. The only composed person among them wears a stern expression and a mauve hijab. “I’m sorry guys, but this had to happen,” she says. “Devils need a chance, and you gave them the chance. Thank Allah that he saved you. But did you ever think why, of all the women in the market, this happened to you?” She explains: “Because only you three”—two Hindus and one Christian—“were not wearing hijab. Allah always protects us—he’s not like your gods.”

Such polarisations, not merely unchecked, are actively empowered. Made on a reported budget of less than Rs 20 crore, both The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story earned more than Rs 300 crore. Monetary reward, though, is just the first benefit. Second, recognition, via National Awards (The Kashmir Files won the Best Feature Film on National Integration). Third, power (its director, Vivek Agnihotri, who got Y category security detail after the movie’s release, is also a censor board member). Other rewards range from special permissions to politicians’ endorsements to tax cuts.

As the ‘villain’ is shaped through exaggerated extremist portrayals, the benevolent, charismatic hero is further legitimised and emboldened. Chinki Sinha explored the phenomenon of how nationalism is being amplified through cinema. For a long time now, we have been submerged in nationalistic jingoism and propaganda of the kind that is ambitious enough to attempt a disintegration of history itself. The megaphone cinema, as she calls it, is part of the machinery that feeds itself with a version of history that can be fictionalised and edited to suit a particular mood and serve a particular time or promote a set of narratives that include Hindu nationalism. The amplification is too much. The new propagandists imagine themselves as influencers, as those who rectify and serve the new emergent supernation that is trying to assert its glorious past rooted in the Ram Rajya and then, in the Independence movement, and now, in the showcasing of Hindu nationalism that is benevolent, and yet, has been denied its rightful place.

In any case, manipulation via cinema is not a new phenomenon in terms of promoting certain ideologies, depending on who is in power. 

In this context, the ‘othering’ of Muslims appears to be a central driving force in contemporary narratives. Hajara Najeeb highlighted how the representation of Muslim characters in Indian cinema has been limited—they are either terrorists or glorified individuals who have no substance other than fixed ideas of patriotism. One of the most persistent questions when discussing the interplay of cinema and society is who influences whom— whether the movies merely reflect the already existing socio-political narratives or they play a role in forming their narratives. However, this question does not deny that cinema influences viewers, shapes narratives, and forms opinions. 

There has been a significant change in the representation of Muslims in Bollywood cinema since the period of post-liberalisation. The ‘soorma-lined’ eyes of the Nawabs were replaced by the ‘blood-shot’ eyes of the terrorists. 

The way Muslim identity has been treated is everything but right in Hindi cinema. Sometimes, they are stripped of all their other parts except that they are Muslims. 

The trailer of 'The Kerala Story' targeted the community as it claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had undergone conversion and joined the IS. Such claims, however, often lack credible evidence or substantiation. Shahina K. K. shed light on an incident where Nazeer Hussain, a Malayali software engineer residing in the US, posted an offer on Facebook that quickly went viral. He pledged Rs 10 lakh to anyone who could provide the names and addresses of women who purportedly converted to Islam and joined the Islamic State (IS), as depicted in the teaser of the film The Kerala Story. This post triggered a controversy soon after the trailer of the film was released. 

Hussain’s post marked the beginning of a series of “lucky draws” aimed at those supporting the claim that 32,000 Malayali women had joined the IS. One of them, C Shukkur, a lawyer-turned-film actor, offered Rs 11 lakh to individuals who could provide the name and other details of just 32 women who converted to Islam and joined the IS. Subsequently, The Youth League, the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), declared a reward of Rs one crore to anyone who could substantiate the allegations raised in the film.

Soon, Malayali users inundated the social media platforms protesting against the film that levelled allegations against the Muslim community in Kerala. Even some of the Sangh profiles in Kerala have adopted a defensive stance and have been unable to provide any evidence to support the claims made in the film. Neither Hussain nor Shukkur nor the Youth League could award the prize money as no evidence was presented by anyone. 

This influence is not confined to cinema alone, but seeps into other forms of soft power as well. Kunal Purohit emphasised how hindutva music is aiding PM Modi’s rise. From calling Modi an avatar of the Hindu god Ram, to insisting that his third term would mean a Hindu temple in place of existing mosques in Varanasi and Mathura, to songs that echo his campaign slogans (a song named Jinki ab guarantee chalti, unka naam Narendra Modi that has garnered over 1.1 million views on YouTube), several pop stars gave it all they had and gained wide popularity on the internet.