Bollywood parrots Nagpur's revisionist agenda, says Swara Bhaskar

Bollywood films have started to serve the project of Hindutva, actor Swara Bhaskar said in Kochi on Thursday. She said there is a visible trend of Hindi films “parroting the revisionist project of Nagpur”.

Nagpur is the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Bhaskar, a vocal critic of the communal forces and authoritarian trends in the country, was delivering the sixth Dr TK Ramachandran Memorial Lecture at the TDM Hall.

“The central government has finally understood the power of Bollywood and it has moved very smartly and swiftly with a variety of changes in rules and laws. It gives patronage to certain kind of films and filmmakers. Their supporters also put money into certain kind of films so that the cinematic art in the Hindi language can begin to serve the project of Hindutva. That's what is literally happening. You see any historical film that is being made in Bollywood and you realise that the script is parroting the revisionist project of Nagpur,” Bhaskar said.

She spoke at length about the influencing power of art and why the state attempts to control it.

“I have realised that art has the power to transform. Good art, thought-provoking art can create empathy. It has the power to do that which the intellect cannot. A moving story touches your heart. It doesn't go through your brain. World over authoritarian states have feared free art and they have controlled it,” she said.

“Any successful authoritarian state has been able to remain in power for a long time only by controlling the emotions of the population. We are in the middle of one such successful experiment in India today. Whether we understand the power and dangers of the art and the artist, I can rest assure you that the state understands it. That's how the use of propaganda in art begins,” she added.

Bhaskar, whose filmography includes Tanu Weds Manu, Nil Battey Sannata and Veere Di Wedding, said a performer has to empathise with the characters she plays.

“I'm an actor. My job is to be a medium of stories that involve the people around me. I have to become the people. All performers have to become the people. How does any actor in India play a Muslim character without giving a thought about the implication of the CAA amendment and the NRC plan for the minorities,” she asked.

She also spoke about the cyber bullying she faces from right-wing trolls on an everyday basis.

In his introductory remarks, writer N S Madhavan remembered Dr TK Ramachandran as a public intellectual, speaker, author, educator and culture critic. Ramachandran was also one who realised the threat of religious majoritarianism at an earlier stage, he said.