Bollywood has always been a breeding ground for controversies. Stars, movies, songs, Me Too and even actresses’ clothes are the reasons for this. The last one on that list is the last day actress Kangana Ranaut has cheated on Twitter. In an old interview with Oscar winner and music king AR Rahman, Kangana is set for a discussion in a context she felt was appropriate. In the video, Rahman says that he has been getting very few films from Bollywood for some time and that is because of the false propaganda being done against him and that a group is working for him. Dil director Bechara Mukesh composed four songs for Chhabra. He spoke many things to him. Among them, advice was received from many people not to go after Rahman.
Kangana has taken to Twitter two years after this revelation made by Rahman in 2020. ‘Bollywood children grow up feeling that they are born with artistic talent. Parents, on the other hand, watch their children’s every word and encourage them. Children of Bollywood celebrities will believe the lie of innate talent. In the meantime, if those more capable than them come, they will oppress them. If necessary, those who challenge them will be stoned. There is a film with this theme. Amadus,’ is the summary of Kangana’s reply.
Kangana’s spat on social media dates back a few years. Actor Sushant Singh’s suicide laid the foundation for it. She has also publicly leveled allegations of nepotism in Bollywood against director Karan Johar. Kangana said that the nepotism of the elite class in Btown was the cause of Sushant Singh’s death. It should be assumed that Sushant’s statement ‘I will kill him if I have to’ is his answer to Rahman’s issue which is due to the event. On March 28, Kangana came out in support of actress Priyanka Chopra’s words that Bollywood has cornered her and sees nepotism politics as the reason why she left Bollywood for Hollywood. Priyanka left India due to the ban imposed by director Karan Johar. Kangana said that the film mafia including Shahrukh Khan is behind this.
Feedback on such matters is welcome. Bollywood is a place of various caucuses and gangs. But it cannot be believed that Kangana’s ‘Nishku’ response was to support artists in the same profession. The reason is that there have been definite political agendas behind the protests against Bollywood for some time now. Karan Johar is not holding Kangana between the lines. Rather the Khan trio in Karan’s friendship-business circle.
Khan is also a symbol of otherness in India today. Even the phrase ‘the Khans rule Bollywood’ is part of this alienation today. It was only after 2014 that the art industry known as cinema began to change to this. Especially Bollywood. Today’s society judges even the entertainment medium of cinema by looking at whose film it is, not excellence or acting talent. Kaviparty paved the way for this.
In 2015, BJP woman leader Sadhvi Prachi described the Khan trio of Bollywood as advocates of jihad. Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are doing a Love Jihad campaign through Bollywood movies. Love Jihad promotes the Khan Trio under the name love stories. It sends a wrong message to Hindu children. The Hindu community should never allow this – this is what Prachi said at a meeting organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Dehradun. This later became a statement that sparked a hate campaign in Bollywood. Actress Kangana is one of those who succumbed to this strategy of Hindutva politics to enter Bollywood. Another is Akshay Kumar.
Boycott Khans is the target, not Bollywood
Boycott Bollywood is something that has been heard in the country since the 90s. It got the power it has today only after the NDA government came to power. One of the main films in Boycott’s history is Fire, which was released in 1996 and tells the story of lesbian partners in a Hindu family. The use of the Hindu names Radha and Sita in the film has angered the Shiv Sena. The 2007 film Water also drew boycott calls for depicting the sexual exploitation of poor widows.
But the current boycott trend was started by Aamir Khan’s PK in 2014. Hindutva organizations accused Aamir of insulting Hinduism by making fun of Hindu monks while his Vivastra scene in PK angered moralists. The Hindu Jan Jagarat Samiti came forward demanding a ban on the film. The complaint was lodged at Panaji station in Goa. The next year, it was Aamir’s own film Dangal that fell victim. Before the release of the film, Aamir Khan and his ex-wife Kiran Rao had stated that India is not a safe place and intolerance towards minorities is on the rise. Both were given the title of anti-patriots. Dangal will be announced later. With that, Twitter became a trend. The Dangal boycott call has changed. But the film managed to overcome the protests and became a huge success.
In 2022, Aamir’s Lal Singh Chadha was boycotted. It was also claimed that Aamir’s Sikh dress and character in the film was anti-Hindu. In 2018, the set of Padmaavat, a love story between the Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji and the Hindu princess Padmavati, was attacked. At that time a minister had even announced an award for the execution of Sanjay, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. Like Aamir, Shahrukh Khan also made a statement that there is extreme intolerance in the country. Two days after Khan’s response, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yogi Adityanath said that Khan was speaking the language of terrorists and if the Hindu community boycotted Khan’s films, you would be out of business. After that came the boycott call against Shahrukh.
The last of the boycott calls was against Pathan Cinema. The problem was that the color of Deepika’s bikini in Pathan was saffron and the song that accompanied the scene made it a bad color. After many protests, the film Pathan was successful. Film lovers welcomed it as a victory over hate. Actress Kangana Ranaut is one of those who came out against this. This is a film that glorifies Pakistan and their intelligence agency, ISIS. Bollywood workers should focus on work and enjoy life and not spread the word about Hindu hatred … These calls for boycott are not the only bar raised against freedom of expression. It is also an attempt to poeticize the artistic form of cinema, which has remained secular throughout this time, and use it politically.
Bollywood today is suffocating between the post-Covid financial crisis and the competition with OTT platforms. In 2022 alone, the industry suffered a loss of crores due to the boycott call. In this context, Hindi filmmakers will be forced to be careful about the themes they choose, the way they tell the story and the religion of the actors. ‘Bollywood will find a place in Bollywood especially for ancient stories that stick to Hinduism for fear of hurting Hindu sentiments. None of them would be willing to portray a Muslim actor as a Hindu God. Nor would the Khan trio dare to be such a character. It should also be remembered that Amazon Prime had to drop a series that portrayed a Muslim actor as a Hindu god. Or images that villainize Muslims, liberal intellectuals, and previous secular governments may emerge.
Despite the presence of Tamil, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam industries, BJP is seeking the saffron of Bollywood. The reason for this is that Bollywood is the mirror of India in popular culture in front of the world. BJP is using all means to control the creative freedom of Bollywood. Especially to remove the influence of Muslim elites who make up a large percentage of the industry. Tax investigations and baseless allegations against actors and directors are becoming common.
Over the past three decades, the Khans – Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir – have wielded more power in the Hindi film industry than most other actors. At least six of the 10 highest grossing films in Bollywood belong to the Khans. In addition, a large number of the owners of Bollywood’s most important studios are Muslims. For most Indians, the dominance of the Khans is a symbol of the country’s liberal secularism. But Hindutvaists don’t like it so much.
