There used to be a time, not long back when the Bollywood industry had got itself covered with shades of red and green. Islamo-leftist propaganda occupied the major portion of the movies that led to the shaping of minds of the Indian public especially the youth in a direction that saw no righteousness. Distortion of facts, glorification of invaders with genocidal aims and undermining the Indian culture and heritage were some of the common themes that Bollywood movies operated with. Movies were made a medium to communicate political propaganda by subtly placing a social idea into the subconscious mind of the viewers.
On one side where the movie Jodha Akbar, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker tried to eulogise the mughal invader Akbar by painting him white as a tolerant ruler, Vishal Bhardwaj through his movie Haidar on the other hand tried to peddle the age old Islamist agenda of Kashmiris suffering ‘jurm’ at the hands of Indian security personnels in the valley with no mention of Kashmiri Pandit genocide.
But, fortunately over the recent years a major churn could be witnessed in the Indian film industry. A churn that is attempting to omit down the reddish-green shades on the movie screen. A churn that respects the sentiments of the people of the country and doesn’t shy away from showcasing the realities of the history no matter if the history stands politically incorrect to the contemporary world. 2014 saw a tectonic shift in the political landscape of the country with nationalistic dispensation coming at the centre.
Gradually the movies with nationalistic bent started knocking the theatres. Movies like Uri: The Surgical Strike, Tanhaji, Panipat, Samrat Prithviraj, The Kashmir Files, The Kerala story, Mai Atal Hoon, Bastar: The Naxal Story, Razakar: Silent Genocide of Hyderabad, Article 370, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, The Sabarmati Report covered a wide range of topics that no one expected Bollywood to come up with.
The movie Tanhaji featuring Ajay Devgan showed the valour of marathas against the mughals. The movie surprisingly came up with the reference of Aurangjeb destroying Kashi Vishwanath which was nearly impossible to expect from the reddish-green Bollywood back then.
Movies like Uri:The Surgical Strike, Article 370 aroused nationalistic sentiments among the people with Samrat Prithviraj, Panipat, Tanhaji tried to make Indians feel proud of their rich history. Swatantrya Veer Savarkar and Mai Atal Hoon portrayed the life of the brave sons of Mother India, freedom fighter Veer Savarkar and Former Prime Minister Atal Vihari Bajpayee whereas The Kashmir Files, The Kerala Story, Razakar: Silent Genocide of Hyderabad and Bastar: The Naxal Story were brave enough to come up with sensitive societal issues and history on the big screen.
These movies somehow rattled the leftists so much so that the ecosystem desperately tried to hurried label these movies propaganda movies. Every single time a movie with pro-Hindu and pro-National content is up for release, the Islamo-leftist ecosystem is quick enough to label it as a propaganda movie. These movies are not given the mainstream respect with the so-called established “movie critics” and web portals turning a blind eye to the movie or by intentionally giving below par rating no matter the plot, acting performances and cinematography tops the chart.
Not only was the agenda limited to India but the global leftist circle too tried to showcase these movies as some kind of propaganda. For instance, the Israeli director and IFFI international jury chair Nadav Lapid called Kashmir Files cheap manipulation in order to incite people and called the movie a propaganda disguised as a movie.
But these strategies seemed to not gain much of the success with movies of nationalistic bent and hard hitting truths continuing to stand at the doors of the movie theatres. Bollywood movies are coming out every month which are far away from the reddish- green circle catering to the truth. Films like Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency, Vicky Kaushal’s Chhava, and Vivek Agnihotri’s The Delhi Files are all set to bring historical realities and hard-hitting truths to the forefront in 2025.
With the “propaganda movie” narrative failing to gain traction, the ecosystem has now shifted strategies. Their latest tactic involves portraying these films as box office failures. The attempt is to create a perception that movies with nationalistic or Indic themes struggle commercially. To reinforce this claim, comparisons are frequently drawn between these films and mainstream commercial blockbusters, regardless of the differing contexts and audiences they cater to.
The success of a movie depends on numerous factors beyond just its underlying intent. Key elements such as the storyline, its ability to resonate with the audience, the quality of performances, budget, cinematography, the star cast, release timing, and several other considerations all play a crucial role. It is not a done deal that every movie which comes without a reddish green face will get a standing ovation from the box office. In fact, it is an undeniable fact that the resurgence of pro-Hindu and pro-Nation movies have suffered “sabotage” attempts with turn-coat directors and producers trying to exploit the ‘Saffron wave’ with their ill-researched, damp squib stories to harm the larger interest of the awakened audience, with varying motives at play — cheap, quick fame, financial interests.
Also Read: Time to correct the falsified history and cinema is the way forward
Nonetheless, while it is true that some of these films did not achieve significant box office success, others performed exceptionally well, garnering impressive box office numbers. Movies like Uri: The Surgical Strike, Tanhaji, The Kashmir Files, The Kerala Story, Article 370, and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar successfully attracted large audiences to theaters and achieved notable earnings.
Released in 2019, Uri: The Surgical Strike was a groundbreaking film based on India’s surgical strike operations. Made on a budget of ₹25 crores, the film surpassed expectations, earning over ₹342 crores globally. Ajay Devgn’s Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, released in 2020, celebrated the valor of Maratha warrior Tanhaji Malusare. With a production budget of ₹120 crores, the film made an impressive ₹368 crores at the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year. The Kashmir Files, the bold cinematic venture and the only movie that shed light on the genocide and exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits made wonders at the box office. Made on a modest budget of ₹15 crores, the film earned a staggering ₹340 crores, proving that audiences are eager to engage with thought-provoking narratives and hard hitting truths.
Another low-budget movie, The Kerala Story which brought the hard truth of Love Jihad to the big screen was produced with ₹15 crores and went on to amass over ₹300 crores. Article 370 and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar too performed decently at the box office garnered ₹110 crores against its budget of ₹20 crores, while Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, made on a similar budget, collected around ₹32 crores.
Despite facing challenges, such as being labeled as “propaganda” or battling preconceived notions, these movies have carved a niche for themselves, emphasizing the potential of content-driven, hard hitting cinema in India.
The other movies too that could not get themselves labelled as box office success connected well with the audience delivering a much bigger goal of catering the truth. Even though ‘The Sabarmati Report’ could not have a great run at the box office, the movie served a bigger purpose of putting forward the truth of the tragic Godhra Train Burning that left 59 Hindus burnt to death.
The movie without any sugar coating put forth the truth in front of the audience making the country aware of the incident. Many more movies will be released in the coming years that will challenge and ask tough questions to the Islamo-Leftist cabal.
More than Box Office numbers, it is the larger goal that matters, the goal to scrap out reddish green shades and bring up the colours of truth upon the movie screens. As the cinematic phrase goes ‘Ye toh bas trailer hai, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost’.
