Bollywood And Its Version Of Politics

Bollywood movies are made on many genres but they come into limelight when they use controversial themes, like politics. Some directors tried to portray Indian politics and politicians through movies and many of them faced a ban.

Aandhi is a movie believed to be based on Indira Gandhi. The movie couldn't be released in 1975 as she was the PM then. In 1977 she lost the election and Janta Party gave a green signal.

Then the movie Kissa Kursi Ka (1997) a satire on the politics of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi was banned. Some movies such as Sarkar also shows the dark side of politics. In the movie, the main character played by Amitabh Bachchan is an influential man of Mumbai, runs a parallel government and has many followers. His own son hires contract killers to kill him. This movie also shows the real meaning of politics and what one can do for the seat. Another movie Rajneeti (2010) is based on the Mahabharat, a story about the thirst of power and mixed up relations.

There are also some great biopics about the famous political leaders such as the Accidental Prime Minister, Thackeray, PM Narendra Modi.

In south India, which has its own regional film industry, big stars have long been a pictured on the political scene. Jayaram Jayalalitha had appeared in 140 films before entering the politics in 1982. She went on to become the CM of Tamil Nadu for more than 14 years. By the time she died in 2016, Jayalalitha had left on an incredible mark on the state politics.

Once one of India's most popular television actress, Smriti Irani spent more than a decade using her star power to help the BJP campaign. Experienced in front of the camera, Irani advocated for BJP on national television during the 2014 election quickly becoming the party’s spokesperson. In 2019, she is serving as Minister of Textile and is given additional charges as Minister of Women and Child Development. She is the member of parliament in the Lok Sabha representing Amethi.

Cut to the 1960s and Prithviraj Kapoor, the first Bollywood star to enter parliament as a nominated member. He was a staunch Congressman, a Jawaharlal Nehru confident who staged plays highlighting Nehruvian ideals of socialism and secularism at his Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai.

Many of our movie stars have plunged into electoral politics too. Some worked alongside Jawaharlal Nehru, many joined Congress. In TN, AP movies stars turned their career into vehicles for social and political messaging, then won the election on the basis of that image. Almost all parties have used celebrities as a force multiplier in their campaigns to draw wider attention.

When citizens think and work like fans, democracy looks the worst for it.