Films Emerge Campaign Runners This Election Season
With Uri: The Surgical Strike, The Accidental Prime Minister, Thackeray and The Tashkent Files releasing in quick succession, films have become the newest campaign runners in this season of polarised
The
grime
of
campaigning
and
the
dazzle
of
stardust
have
combined
in
election
year
to
make
for
four
films
and
possibly
two
more
as
the
silver
screen
emerges
as
the
new
'rally'
maidan.
With
Uri:
The
Surgical
Strike,
The
Accidental
Prime
Minister,
Thackeray
and
The
Tashkent
Files
releasing
in
quick
succession,
films
have
become
the
newest
campaign
runners
in
this
season
of
polarised
politics.
Besides
these
four,
two
biopics
on
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
have
been
announced,
one
by
BJP
MP
Paresh
Rawal
and
another
starring
admirer
Vivek
Oberoi.
These
movies
are
not
low
budget
films
with
small
or
unknown
faces.
Ronnie
Screwvala's
Uri:
The
Surgical
Strike,
which
releases
Friday
and
stars
Vicky
Kaushal,
is
on
the
September
2016
strike
against
Pakistan
when
Army
troops
crossed
into
the
country
and
smashed
four
launch
pads
under
the
guard
of
a
Pakistani
post.
"The
Accidental
Prime
Minister",
starring
Anupam
Kher
as
former
prime
minister
Manmohan
Singh
and
based
on
a
book
by
his
former
media
advisor,
also
releases
Friday
amid
accusations
that
it
portrays
the
Gandhi
family
in
poor
light.
The
BJP
called
it
a
"riveting
tale" of
how
a
family
held
a
country
to
ransom
for
10
years
and
tweeted
the
trailer
of
the
film
on
its
official
handle,
while
the
Congress
termed
the
film
"propaganda"
ahead
of
the
2019
elections.
Thackeray
is
a
biopic
on
Shiv
Sena
founder
Bal
Thackeray,
produced
and
penned
by
senior
party
leader
Sanjay
Raut
with
Nawazuddin
Siddiqui
in
the
title
role.
It
releases
on
January
25,
Thackeray's
birth
anniversary.
Fourth
in
the
list
of
party
films
is
The
Tashkent
Files,
about
the
mysterious
circumstances
under
which
second
prime
minister
Lal
Bahadur
Shastri
died.
It
is
directed
by
vocal
BJP
supporter
Vivek
Agnihotri
and
is
slated
for
release
by
February
or
March.
The
line-up
and
its
timing,
ahead
of
elections
expected
in
May
this
year,
led
to
searching
questions
on
the
use
of
a
medium
that
draws
all
sections
of
society,
the
rich,
the
underprivileged,
the
illiterate
and
the
intellectual.
Creative
minds
are
going
full
throttle,
using
credible
names,
known
for
their
acting,
to
front
the
pieces
accused
of
being
motivated
or
ideological
in
nature,
said
industry
insiders.
"Overwhelmed
by
the
pre-election
line
up
of
propaganda
films.
Never
in
my
23
career
have
I
seen
cinema
used
so
cunningly
to
influence
votes.
And
while
I
think
censorship
&
bans
are
totally
undemocratic,
I
wish
some
credible
talents
hadn't
sold
their
souls
to
the
propaganda
mills," wrote
"Aligarh"
scriptwriter
Apurva
Asrani
on
Twitter.
Southern
superstar
Sidharth
was
equally
scathing.
"Poetic
justice
is
when
a
Muslim
actor
from
UP
gets
to
play
the
part
of
the
revered
Marathi
bigot
in
a
propaganda
film,"
he
said
in
reference
to
Siddiqui
playing
Thackeray.
"The
conveniently
un-subtitled
#Marathi
trailer
of
#Thackeray.
So
much
hate
sold
with
such
romance
and
heroism
(Music,
tiger
roars,
applause,
jingoism).
No
solidarity
shown
to
millions
of
South
Indians
and
immigrants
who
make
#Mumbai
great.
#HappyElections!"
he
added.
There
were
also
those
who
defended
the
creative
enterprise
behind
the
films.
According
to
Kher,
releasing
a
political
film
during
election
time
only
makes
sense.
"People
release
patriotic
films
during
Independence
Day
or
Republic
Day.
This
is
a
political
film
and
we
would
like
to
release
it
in
the
election
time.
What
is
the
problem
in
that?"
he
said
at
the
launch
of
the
"The
Accidental
Prime
Minister"
last
month.
Rawal,
a
BJP
MP
from
Ahmedabad
East,
was
equally
dismissive
of
the
criticism
of
the
films.
Responding
to
the
notion
that
"Uri..."
is
a
"propaganda
film",
Rawal
said,
"If
we
have
done
something
good,
we
should
be
proud
of
it
and
we
are
showcasing
that
in
a
film.
How
is
it
a
propaganda
film?
Pakistan
came,
attacked,
killed
our
soldiers
and
we
have
taken
revenge
and
given
them
a
befitting
reply.
Rawal
said
he
gets
furious
when
people
raise
doubts
over
the
authenticity
of
surgical
strikes.
Some
even
said
Pakistan
did
not
verify
it.
They
are
not
going
to
accept
that
this
has
happened.
Army
has
taken
such
a
big
step
so
instead
of
praising
their
work,
one
doubts
their
efforts,
Rawal
said.
In
a
country
where
romantic
and
period
dramas
like
"Ae
Dil
Hai
Mushkil" and
"Padmaavat"
can
make
national
headlines
day
after
day
for
"hurting
sentiments",
this
spate
of
political
films
presents
a
reversal
of
sorts
with
no
protests
and
no
calls
for
a
ban,
just
muted
objections
on
social
media.
The
Central
Board
of
Film
Certification
(CBFC)
has
objected
to
certain
scenes
referring
to
the
Babri
Masjid
and
the
South
Indian
community
in
"Thackeray"
but
there's
not
much
more
beyond
that.
It
is
a
true
story.
Balasaheb's
life
was
an
open
book.
The
censor
board
will
understand.
Some
things
take
time
to
be
understood.
There
is
no
question
of
ban,
this
is
Thackeray.
Nobody
can
ban
Thackeray,"
Raut
had
said
at
the
trailer
launch
of
the
film.