Poliwood: Are Biopics Harnessing Indian Cinema to Politics?

What kind of film sells best during an election campaign? Hey, how about a biography of the current prime minister, who is hoping to get re-elected? Well, yes, it does look a bit too straightforward, but, after all, it will be the work of a private company and both the firm and the ruling party can keep denying that the release is based on political calculations. 

This is what India is witnessing now, as a biopic titled PM Narendra Modi is set to hit the screens in early April, just before the voting for the country’s general elections will commence and when the real Narendra Modi – who indeed is the incumbent prime minister – will be fighting to retain his post.  

While releasing this kind of film at such a time is not very typical in India, curiously enough the country just saw the release of a biopic on the previous prime minister. The Accidental Prime Minister, the premiere of which took place in January 2019, told the story of Manmohan Singh, who formally headed the central government for a decade (2004-2014). The same month also saw the release of Thackeray, the story of Balasaheb Thackeray, a deceased and highly controversial politician from the state of Maharashtra.

So are political biopics the newest  fashion in Indian cinema? “If political films are […] accepted well, they will be one more genre, which will open a market for film industry,” declared Sandip Ssingh, the producer of PM Narendra Modi, in an interview for India Today. The challenge I see, however, is that the biopic makers may either take pains to produce a balanced and nuanced work, or just jump from the fence and land on one of the political sides. Thus, a movie about a living, influential politician is very likely to lean either toward a whitewashing eulogy or igniting a controversy. The latter choice may land the producers in stormy waters. The former option often turns the film into a marble statue of a “beloved leader.”

Which option did the producers of the aforementioned three biopics choose? Thackeray at least attempted to include certain nuances. It did include some of Thackeray’s controversial statements and actions, such as his unabashed use of violence. While Thackeray was a regional leader and not a national figure (like Modi), and he is not currently alive, it is still bold to criticize him. His party, Shiv Sena, is known for physical intimidation and it still rules part of the roost in the city of Bombay, where the Bollywood industry is located.

Perhaps not that much was accidental about the timing and the content of The Accidental Prime Minister, however. Its hero, Manmohan Singh, represents a party rival to that of Narendra Modi. So is it a biopic battle? The Accidental Prime Minister vs PM Narendra Modi. Did each side make a film about its prime minister and plan to release before the votes are cast? Not quite – The Accidental Prime Minister was kind toward its main protagonist, but in real life Singh had been made prime minister by Sonia Gandhi, the party’s actual leader who chose to take a back seat and pull the strings. She is not shown in a positive light in the movie. Thus, the film was free to praise Singh, because it was assumed he was not really that powerful, but went against the real party leader, Sonia Gandhi, who is one of the key opponents to Modi’s current rule. It would seem that the producers of a movie about Singh actually lent a helping hand to the current prime minister. Both biopics may in fact end up being used in Modi’s favor.

While PM Narendra Modi is not on screens just yet, I sincerely doubt it will risk going too deep into the thornier issues of the politician’s life (such as his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots). Releasing the movie during the campaign inevitably means that it will be put on the flagpole of one of the two political armies. If it shows Modi’s darker side, it will be used by the opposition, and if it does not, it will be the darling of the incumbent’s supporters. Its release may be timely enough to score box office success, but I doubt if it will pave the way for more biopics. The more the circumstances of making a film are opportunistic when it comes to political considerations, the less such a movie can be used as a measurement rod for market trends.

Despite these few recent examples, I do not think that the Indian movie industry is headed toward becoming a eulogy factory. Two general factors will stop this from happening: India is a democracy and its movie industry is mostly in private hands. A factory of eulogies could be more easily established in an autocratic state where movie production is a publicly controlled business. India, however has a vibrant film market and one of the world’s biggest – even if three biopics on politicians will be released in a span of four months this year, that is still a very small part of the entire production schedule.

The companies behind these three works are private. It may be assumed that the filmmakers had their reasons in picking their themes. It is always prudent to be in the good books of the people who set the rules (including the ones important for the silver screen industry, such as the entertainment tax, censorship, special treatment, etc). But it is equally important to simply make money. As works of art, neither Thackeray nor The Accidental Prime Minister were found to be particularly compelling by audiences, and it remains to be seen if PM Narendra Modi will have any sparks to it. Most cinema is, for good and (lots of) bad, paramountly about entertainment. As stated earlier, a biopic of a living politician risks becoming a marble statue. Who would like to keep staring a statue for two or three hours, even if it will have music in the background?