Patriotism is a great sentiment. It shows your sense of gratitude towards your country and birthplace. However, Bollywood has been known for its seasonal patriotism and it seems that its seasonal patriotism is blossoming again. Patriotism is rising again in Bollywood as The Kashmir files have proved the change of narrative of the national audience.
Lies of the ‘Urduwood’
Ahead of PM Modi’s virtual summit with his Australian counterpart, Canberra handed over as many as 29 antiquities to India.
This was followed by a reaction from filmmaker Karan Johar. He said, “News that will fill every Indian’s heart with utmost pride @narendramodi. 29 antiquities repatriated to India from Australia.”
https://twitter.com/karanjohar/status/1505802888588632064?s=20&t=MZ5xlZVVp2YqBB0Q5nw4Ig
Ahead of the release of his film Lal Singh Chaddha, we can see Amir Khan praising Kashmir files and even recommending to watch it. Nobody knows how this change of heart happened from feeling fear in living in India to praising Kashmir Files.
The Kashmir Files and changing narrative
Within the Indian cinematic industry, narratives are suddenly changing. Earlier, narratives used to be dominated by the left-liberal ecosystem and it was always the leftist narrative that used to get publicized through the entertainment industry, either blatantly or subtly.
However, the Kashmir Files has disrupted the traditional narrative. Despite all the backlash and adverse propaganda that it faced, it managed to penetrate deep into the minds of the audience.
Now, we are looking at a more evolved audience that doesn’t care much about star casts or big names. It searches for content.
The Kashmir Files itself may not have a patriotic theme. It is a movie that portrays a brutal genocide and narrates a reality that was by and large ignored till now. However, it has helped in taking control of the narrative setting from the left-liberal ecosystem over the film industry.
Patriotism and nationalism are thus no longer looked down upon as outdated ideas in the entertainment industry. Indian cinema understands that if it has to stay relevant, it must start telling India’s story to Indians and even the world at large.
This is why you suddenly see a wave of Bollywood again taking control of the industry.
Seasons of patriotism in Bollywood
It isn’t as if this is the first such season of patriotism in Bollywood. We often go through such phases of patriotism in Bollywood.
Read more: Bollywood goes bold with ‘Uri’ and ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’
You would remember times when a spate of patriotic movies was released one after another. Just like rom-com movies, comedy movies, biopics and thrillers have a ‘phase’, patriotic-themed movies also go through a phase in the industry. If it starts clicking, you get to see many patriotic movies lined up at the box office.
Even after Uri-The Surgical Strike was released portraying the 2016 surgical strikes by the Indian Special Forces in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, there was a wave of patriotism. You even have many artists say, ‘How’s the Josh’.
Read more: 5 years of URI: The terror attack that gave birth to a “Naya Bharat” and changed India forever
However, indeed, such seasons usually don’t last forever. There is eventually a time when such fervent patriotism gets replaced by some other emotion, some other sentiment.
But the present season of patriotism in Bollywood is however not driven by some temporary surge of Indian patriotic sentiment. It is driven by a turning point in the Indian entertainment industry. Audiences have evolved and they are rewarding strictly content-driven, factual work that can tell India’s story to the world.
Going ahead, you might see pro-nation content blossoming like never before in the Indian film industry.
