Is the Indian Film Industry limited only to Bollywood? Does the regional cinema, be it Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, or even Marathi, have no contribution in the same? If it is not the issue, why did PM Modi have a biased approach when he recently met film celebrities?
Recently an event was organized at the PM’s residence. Titled ‘Change Within’, the event was organised in order to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This programme was attended by many well known film celebrities, including the likes of Aanand L Rai, Nitesh Tiwari, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan etc. However, the way other film industries have been ignored in this meet has evoked mixed reactions on the social media. Some people have been criticizing PM Modi for excluding the regional film industries, and justifiably so –
Our film and entertainment industry is diverse and vibrant.
Its impact internationally is also immense.
Our films, music and dance have become very good ways of connecting people as well as societies.
Here are more pictures from the interaction today. pic.twitter.com/711sKni29l
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 19, 2019
While sharing a post from the event, PM Modi tweeted, “Our film and entertainment industry is diverse and vibrant. Its impact internationally is also immense. Our films, music and dance have become very good ways of connecting people as well as societies”. But how is this programme vibrant and how can it be diverse, when nobody from either the Southern cinema or the Marathi or even Gujarati cinema was present at the event?
Going by the images shared by PM Modi, it seems as if only Bollywood represents the Indian film industry. If PM Modi had talked about the film and entertainment industry, he should’ve met the able personalities from all genres of the Indian film industry, not just a chosen few from the Bollywood. Is the director of Baahubali, SS Rajamouli not a part of the Indian film industry? Is Rajinikanth not a part of the Indian film industry? Is the creator of ‘Sairat’ i.e. Nagraj Manjule not a part of the Indian film industry? If this was not the case, why were only a select few from the Bollywood film industry invited to the gathering?
Former actress Khushboo Sundar raised her objections on the same with consecutive tweets –
With al due respects to all those who met our H’ble PM @narendramodi ji last eve on behalf of Indian cinema, would like to remind @PMOIndia that Hindi films alone do not represent or contribute to the economy of this country. South Indian cinema is the largest contributor.. cont.
— KhushbuSundar (Modi ka Parivaar) (@khushsundar) October 20, 2019
Would really appreciate if my pioneers and peers who have made South Indian cinema a pride of the country, are invited and shown same respect as I feel they rightly deserve it. Expecting @PMOIndia to look into it.
— KhushbuSundar (Modi ka Parivaar) (@khushsundar) October 20, 2019
South Indian cinema represents our country globally. The best of talent comes from south india. The biggest superstars come from south india. India’s best actors belong to south india. Best technicians are South Indian. So why was South industry not invited? Why this inequality?
— KhushbuSundar (Modi ka Parivaar) (@khushsundar) October 20, 2019
In the same thread, Khushboo Sundar stressed upon the importance of the South Indian film industry. She mentioned in one of her tweets – “South Indian cinema represents our country globally. The best of talent comes from south india. The biggest superstars come from south india. India’s best actors belong to south india. Best technicians are South Indian. So why was South industry not invited? Why this inequality?”
Supporting her stance, medical entrepreneur and the spouse of Telugu star Ram Charan’s wife Upasana Konidela posted the following on her social media accounts –
Jai Hind @narendramodi ji. 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/11olAv1tsV
— Upasana Konidela (@upasanakonidela) October 19, 2019
Such objection is just not limited to the exclusion of the representation of other films industries. Some celebrities who met PM Modi, not only support a biased ideology, but also leave no stone unturned in order to malign the Modi government. One of them was director Rajkumar Hirani, who not only made fun of Sanatan Dharma in one of his films, but also whitewashed the controversial image of actor Sanjay Dutt in the biopic ‘Sanju’.
Apart from that, PM Modi also met Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, who were the same people troubled by the ‘rising intolerance’ in India. Aamir Khan went on to say that his wife once asked him if they could leave the country. Now we would like to ask Aamir one question for sure: Does your wife not feel afraid now?
Apart from the meeting, the female stars in the delegation had a photograph with him. The photograph wasn’t a bad move, but the way producer Ekta Kapoor indulged with PM Modi, that wasn’t just awkward but also insulting. When opportunistic and biased people were invited to this event, why were the regional stars not invited?
PM Modi continuously meets the Bollywood stars and through the mode of cinema, he wishes to make sure that the important issues are highlighted about the nation, among which the meeting with Bollywood stars in January was not only fruitful, but also popular. But with this meeting, PM Modi indirectly sent a wrong message by not having a proper representation of the entire Indian film industry. Being a popular leader, PM Narendra Modi should’ve avoided this mistake.