The delayed release of Indian feature film The Sabarmati Report has placed new scrutiny on Bollywood’s relationship with the country’s political machine, as elections in the world’s largest democracy enter their second week.
The political movie about the disputed 2002 Gujurat riots was due to be released early next month, right in the midst of the six-week election period, but it has been pushed back to August 2. Local reports have cited fears around inciting communal tensions as voters head to the polls.
The world’s most populous country has an extensive election process, which is running until June 1. By June 5, the world will have discovered whether controversial Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been given a third term — a result widely expected coming as his tenure at the very top enters its second decade.
Starring Vikrant Massey (12th Fail) and directed by Ranjan Chandel, The Sabarmati Report centers on journalists trying to uncover the cause behind the burning of the Sabarmati express train in 2002, which killed 58 Hindu pilgrims and led to unprecedented clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Modi, then Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat, where the riots took place, was accused of condoning the violence along with members of the police and other government officials. He was controversially cleared of these charges by a special investigative team in 2012. Last year, a BBC documentary about the affair, titled India: The Modi Question, was banned in India and sparked protests both domestically and in the UK.
A trailer for The Sabarmati Report (watch it below) was released several weeks ago but premiere was subsequently and quietly delayed for several months. According to local reports, producers opted to postpone after being warned of potential conflicts that could arise amid the elections over a movie that could be deemed a pro-Modi take on the affair. Deadline has reached out to the producers for comment.
“It is certainly a wise decision to postpone the release of the film,” said Indian film scholar Madhava Prasad. Another Bollywood movie, titled Jahangir National University, about the university home to multiple tensions including blocked attempts to screen The Modi Question in 2023, has also reportedly been delayed, this time indefinitely.
Modi’s government took office in 2014 and has since concerns have been raised both domestically and internationally that it has explicit biases against religious minorities, predominantly Muslims. Modi used a speech last weekend to allege that the opposition Indian National Congress party proposes to distribute peoples’ wealth among Muslims if that party is elected to power. But Indian newspapers including The Hindu have since proved these claims to have been taken out of context from speeches made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh almost 20 years ago. The Indian National Congress has since filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India, alleging Modi broke rules that bar political candidates from activities that could aggravate religious tensions.
Distorting history
The Sabarmati Report delay comes as Bollywood’s relationship with politics is placed in the spotlight, following a recent uptick in film releases and promotions that have been accused of stoking communal tensions and allegedly distorting history. Movies under the microscope include Swatantra Veer Savarkar, The Kerala Story and Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad.
The former comes from actor-director Randeep Hooda and is about controversial 1930s Hindu nationalist leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who was famously opposed to Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent strategies. The real-life Savarkar was believed to hold the opinion that nationality should be based on “unity of thought, religion, language and culture,” frequently comparing the Muslims in India to the Jews in Nazi Germany. He once said publicly: “Indian Muslims are on the whole more inclined to identify themselves and their interests with Muslims outside India than Hindus who live next door, like Jews in Germany.”
Earlier this month, government-owned national broadcaster Doordarshan attracted flack for airing contentious movie The Kerala Story, which follows a group of women from the South Indian state who are coerced into joining Islamic State. The 2023 release, which was initially banned in West Bengal to maintain peace before the ban was lifted across India by the Supreme Court, was marketed as being based on a true story, and was explicitly promoted by Modi’s BJP. Modi has praised the film publicly and observers have pointed out that Kerala is one of only eight states that has never been ruled by his party. The Kerala government has consistently criticized the Modi machine for what it perceives to be nationalist decisions such as the recently enforced Citizenship Amendment Act, which drew criticism around the world for being the first Indian law to explicitly use religion as a criterion for citizenship.
Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad, meanwhile, portrays the violence perpetrated during the rule of the Islamic Nizam in the pre-independence region of Hyderabad. Given that it was produced by BJP member Gudur Narayana Reddy, the movie has also raised eyebrows.
“Contributing to the atmosphere of fear and terror”
“I personally doubt that these films contribute much to electoral success directly,” Indian film scholar Prasad told Deadline. “What they all do, whether big or small, is contribute to the atmosphere of fear and terror in which more and more Indians are living nowadays, especially Muslims, who are constantly at the receiving end of vicious attacks of all kinds, both physical and symbolic.”
Prasad criticized the “lapdog [Indian] media” for giving these movies “free publicity” but said, once released, they often “disappear without a trace after a short run.”
Rather than influencing voter choices, Sidharth Bhatia, a founding editor of The Wire, one of the few remaining independent newspapers in India, said the clutch of movies “probably confirm people’s views and prejudices.” “Now there have been so many films, their impact is bound to be diluted,” he added.
The Bollywood film industry has historically featured prominent Muslims in its ranks, including beloved veterans Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman Khan. In a 2015 TV interview, Shah Rukh Khan criticized the government, stating: “Religious intolerance and not being secular in this country is the worst kind of crime that you can do as a patriot.” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shot back, warning him to “remember that if a huge mass in society boycotts his films, he would have to wander the streets like a normal Muslim.”
Khan has remained quiet on political matters since his son was taken into custody on drug-related offences several years ago. The Pathaan star’s more recent silence is reflective of how few figures in Bollywood have spoken out against the government in the last decade, save younger filmmakers like Dibakar Banerjee (Lust Stories, Khosla ka Ghosla). In an interview with the Indian Express on Wednesday, Banerjee called the industry an oligarchy that is controlled by four or five big businesses. “It is a tussle between the oligarchy and the state,” said Banerjee, whose film Tees was shelved by Netflix — potentially due to the political climate (at the time, Netflix said the issue was down to timing). “Both the oligarchy and the state are giving each other too much importance, reducing the room for the number of conflicting things that we can express in a dynamic culture,” he added.
With Modi’s BJP expected to win a rare third term in office, the future feels uncertain for freedom of expression in India’s beloved film industry.
“Today there are those who are sucking up to the powerful, those who try to stay in the safe zone by turning up at important events like the Ram temple inauguration and smiling for the cameras, and those who keep quiet, hoping things will change,” said Prasad. “I feel a lot of [industry veterans] are confused because they were so used to functioning in an industry where Muslim participation in all departments was indispensable that they wouldn’t have dreamed of it being any other way.
“So internally, these segments will remain if left to themselves. But will they be left to themselves? That’s the real question.”
Deadline has reached out to the BJP for comment.