How Bollywood works with the Indian armed forces
Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut recently passed quite a harsh comment about Pakistan after the deadly attack on India’s Central Reserve Police Force troops in which more than 40 soldiers lost their lives in Indian-occupied Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Needless to mention that the attack was immediately blamed on Pakistan, exactly the way India shows its kneejerk reaction to any attack in India or on its forces in the Occupied Valley.
The Bombay lady, who is known for her bold and outgoing statements, made headlines when she shared her views after the Pulwama incident saying, “The film industry is full of such anti-nationals who boost the enemies’ morale in many ways, but right now is the time to focus on decisive actions…A Pakistan ban is not the focus, Pakistani destruction is.”
Undoubtedly, these words came as a major disappointment for Pakistanis in general and entertainment lovers in particular on our side of the border who had enjoyed Ranaut’s performances to date. Interestingly, the actress’s latest film Manikarnika had been screening across Pakistani cinemas at the time when this utterly hateful statement surfaced.
There were several other noteworthy developments that shaped the post-Pulwama scenario. An event in Karachi that was organized to celebrate Kaifi Azmi, and was to be attended by actress Shabana Azmi and playwright Javed Akhtar, was cancelled as the couple refused to attend it. Moreover, an Indian music record label company, T-series, removed all the songs sung by Pakistani singers from its YouTube channel.
These actions in that unfolded post-Pulwama are not at all different from what we saw after the Uri incident, which was also blamed on Pakistan without any solid proof. Pakistani artists, who were actively engaged with Bollywood at that time, were told to leave India as soon as possible. Hence, Mahira Khan could not take part in the promotions of her film Raees, and Fawad Khan’s scenes were cut to a certain extent from Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to reduce Fawad’s presence in the film. Not only that, Karan Johar had to openly declare that he would not go against the sentiments of the nation and sign any Pakistani artist in any of his films in the future. It’s only then that he was able to get his film released across the country without any trouble.
Bollywood remains politicized which has been given further boost under the current BJP rule
It is pertinent to mention here that Mahira was overwhelmingly targeted by the Indian masses for not condemning Pakistan over Uri attacks. After continuous demand, Mahira finally gave in to the pressure and without naming Pakistan, in a social media post, she condemned the Uri attack which paved the way for the release of Raees.
Many Bollywood celebrities also came out to spew venom against Pakistan and justified the ban on its artistes after Uri incident. It seemed as if they had had a consensus on showing the hate-filled sentiments against Pakistan. Ironically, it included personalities who had earlier worked with Pakistani artistes. One example is Randeep Hooda, who tweeted: “We are trying to isolate Pakistan economically & diplomatically so the cultural isolation must follow.” He is the same person who had acted on Ali Azmat’s song ‘Maula’ in the film Jism 2.
Perhaps this trend of toeing the line of the state is partly an impact of what was revealed in a recent sting operation by Cobrapost, India’s news website involved in investigative journalism. Cobrapost’s ‘Operation Karaoke’ can be easily accessed over the internet which claims to have exposed about “three dozen Bollywood celebrities willing to post messages, as their personal opinion, on social media on behalf of political parties, for money. These celebrities include famous singers, comedians and actors from the entertainment industry, TV and films.”
The way many Bollywood celebrities took to social media to celebrate the recent air strikes by the Indian Air Force inside Pakistan’s Balakot area, can also be seen in this context.
Having said that, there are people in Bollywood who genuinely hold a negative opinion about Pakistan. Singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, who is very well-known for his anti-Pakistan sentiments, categorically stated after the Uri incident that Pakistani artists should be ‘kicked out’ of India. Earlier, he had also expressed his joy at the cancellation of Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai after strong protests by the Shiv Sena. He even went on to call Ghulam Ali a ‘dengue artist’ of a ‘terrorist’ country.
Vicky Kaushal, who played lead role in the latest Bollywood flick Uri: The Surgical Strike, in a recent interview defended the ban on Pakistani artists by claiming that it was a gesture to tell Pakistan to change its policy towards India. This is how Bollywood remains politicized which has been given further boost under the current BJP rule. Films like ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ which directly targeted the opposition party Congress, and ‘Thackeray’ on life of the notorious right-wing party Shiv Sena’s founder Bal Thackeray are a clear evidence of Bollywood’s politicisation.
While the likes of Ranaut were busy passing anti-Pak remarks after the Pulwama attack, Pakistanis on the other hand, were flocking to their local theatres to watch the Ranveer Singh starrer, Gully Boy, and were all praises for the piece of art. Besides, on the political front, they continued to say no to war and raised a voice for peace between the two countries.
After the recent announcement by Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali to make a film on the Balakot air strikes, it is evident that the jingoistic sentiments in India are likely to remain the same, or rather uplifted; and Bollywood will continue to be a key player in this regard.