India: Actor Says Popularity of Islamophobic Movies ‘Disturbing’
'The Kerala Story' revolves around a debunked claim regarding forced conversions of women in Kerala and their recruitment into ISIS, while 'The Kashmir Files' focuses on the mass evacuation of Hindus from Indian-administered Kashmir, drawing criticism for its alleged distortion of facts.
Speaking with the Free Press Journal, Shah voiced his apprehension about the current trend in Indian cinema, where a more jingoistic approach seems to garner greater popularity. "Now the more jingoist you are, the more popular you become, because this is what has been ruling this country. It's not enough to love your country, but beat drums about it and you have to create imaginary enemies," he said, The Current reported.
Shah went on to emphasize that the filmmakers behind movies like 'The Kerala Story' and 'The Kashmir Files' might not fully realize the harm they are causing. He lamented, "In fact, films like Kerala Story and Gadar 2, I haven't seen them, but I know what they are about. It's disturbing that films like Kashmir Files are so massively popular, whereas movies made by Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, and Hansal Mehta, who are trying to portray the truth of their times, don't get seen."
The veteran actor expressed deep concern about the current filmmaking environment, describing it as "frightening." He noted that filmmakers are increasingly resorting to creating movies based on baseless accusations that negatively impact other communities, saying, "It's hard to resort to abstraction and capture life as it is. So 'regressive' is a pretty mild word for what's going on. It's frightening when filmmakers are being coopted into making films which praise all the wrong things and run down other communities for no reason at all. It's a dangerous trend."
Source: Agencies
