Do the films of political leaders shown on screen attract voters?

The excitement of elections is at its peak. The battle cry for Lok Sabha elections 2024 has been sounded across the country. In such a situation, the process of showing films based on the lives of prominent diplomats or films inspired by their lives has started in all the cinema houses of the country for the last several months. Films are not made in a day, there is a long process of making films with an eye on elections. As elections approach, film distributors rush to release movies inspired by politicians in theatres.

Political Biopics: Reflecting on Present and Past Leaders

'Atal' (Atal Bihari Bajpayee), 'Accidental Prime Minister' (Manmohan Singh), 'Indu Sarkar' (Indira Gandhi), 'Jai Bhim' (BR Ambedkar), 'Madam Chief Minister' (Mayawati), 'Sarkar', 'Sarkar Raj', 'Sarkar Raj2' (Bala Saheb Thackeray), 'Tashkand' (Lal Bahadur Shastri), 'Thalaivi' (Jai Lalit), 'Patel' (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel), 'Gandhi' (Mahatma Gandhi Gandhiji ), 'Maine Gandhi ko nhi Mara' (Nathuram Godse), etc. are many such films which are being played in cinema halls across the country these days. Similarly, if films are made directly under the name 'Thackeray', 'NaMo', and 'Modi', web series are made or street plays are staged, then there is no need to tell what is the purpose behind making them.

South Indian Political Cinema: Changing Perceptions

The process of making films on the lives of politicians has also started in the South, just as the stars of the South have been getting success by playing innings in politics. In the South, stars like MGR, NTR, Jai Lalitha, Karunanidhi, etc. have done successful politics. These were the people of the film, at the time of their elections, films of their lives were made and reached the cinema houses and they were direction makers. The audience there considered the stars as gods. However, now those perceptions have changed there too. Last year's film 'Jai Bhim' has been an international success in South India. But, in this film, the title and the glimpse of the Constitution made by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was made the theme. By not directly connecting Ambedkar with the film and speaking his own words, South Star Surya won many awards. But such films are rarely made.

Impact of 'Accidental Prime Minister' on Bollywood Politics

On the other hand, in Bollywood too, during the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019, a film had a huge run - 'Accidental Prime Minister', a film based on the life of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It was difficult to even imagine whether this film was made to harm a particular party or to benefit it. The commercial result of the film was also not good, hence it cannot be said that the film was made only to earn money. In the film, Anupam Kher presented former PM Manmohan Singh as a 'puppet' and ridiculed Rahul Gandhi. In this film, there are even dialogues like 'This election is not in Rahul's control', related to the 2009 elections. There is no need to tell what kind of image this film created of Rahul Gandhi in the minds of the audience.

Impact of Bollywood Biopics on Political Image

A similar thing had come to light among the elite class regarding the review of the film 'Thackeray'. In this film, Nawazuddin Siddiqui did not inspire any direction by playing Balasaheb Thackeray. The same thing was said about Prime Minister Modi's biopic 'Modi' before the last elections. It did not happen that Vivek Oberoi left any impact by becoming Modi. Rather, Vivek Oberoi himself gained fame by becoming Modi for a short time in his sinking career. This film did not leave any impact on the public to increase votes, although the film was made with the same idea. How much mileage the Prime Minister's character in the film 'Uri: The Surgical Strike' gave to the party during election time would be like taking antibiotic pills for seasonal fever.

The trend of making films on the lives of diplomats, which started in the South, is now breaking there too because in this age of social media, the audience itself is a critic. There too, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have failed to provide a strong base to the party they started. There are no filmmakers left with the guts of Dev Anand among the producers of the Hindi belt. Those who wish to portray a politician have seen the results of previous producers' efforts. Even political parties no longer trust these films because the audience is not inspired by these films.

-Sharad Rai

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