GOVT POLICIES PEP UP MOVIE PLOTS
GST, demonetisation, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan — all are inspiring filmmakers to both entertain and inform
Politics has frequently been the subject of films in India — that includes mainstream Bollywood films — but an interesting new trend is the way specific government policies, e.g. GST, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, demonetisation etc, are now finding their moment on the silver screen.
The film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, a love story starring Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar, spread the spirit of Swachh Bharat perhaps more effectively than any sarkari campaign could. Tamil star Vijay’s action thriller Mersal (meaning ‘shocking’) has a reference to GST (Goods and Services Tax). Earlier this year, the Bengali film Shunyota (meaning ‘emptiness’), directed by Suvendu Ghosh, was based on the impact of demonetisation, a subject that also inspired the Malayalam film Puthan Panam (meaning ‘new money’), starring Mammootty.
Filmmaker Shree Narayan Singh, who helmed Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, feels that it is important to make such films. “There has to be a general awareness. Indirectly, I am trying to convey a message along with entertaining the public,” says the filmmaker. He is also on board to direct Batti Gul Meter Chalu, a film about a common man’s fight against power utilities, with Shahid Kapoor in the lead.
Actor Pankaj Tripathi, who starred in the recent release Newton, a film about polls in a Naxalite-dominated tribal area in Chattisgarh, believes that directors should not shy away from showing the good, the bad, and the ugly side of the government. “Cinema,” he says, “should reflect society.”
Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta thinks that the publicity around big policies makes films based on those policies more relatable. He points out, “If there’s a joke or a mention of a policy in a film, viewers can identify with it.”
Indirectly, through films, I am trying to convey a message along with entertaining the public
SHREE NARAYAN SINGH FILMMAKER
Ultimately, cinema should reflect society. Through films, we can talk about social reforms; we can make satires on the system
PANKAJ TRIPATHI ACTOR