Gone are the days when the people of South Asia could unite behind their love for Bollywood. From the mountainous Kyber Pakhtun of Pakistan to the flood plains of Bangladesh, Hindi cinema was once a unifying force. Posters of beloved actors like Shah Rukh Khan were ubiquitous, and Bollywood music could be heard from the radios of people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. But something tragic has happened to Bollywood in the last decade: it has gone from a source of pan-South Asian identity to a propaganda machine for India’s radical (and unfortunately mainstream) far-right nationalists. 

A quick look at its latest blockbusters reveals an unsettling trend. A startling number of these films actively promote a pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim agenda. Whether it be in the form of “historical” movies containing a cherry-picked and oversimplified version of history, or depicting Pakistanis as radicalised terrorists, Bollywood is now actively pouring fuel on the fire of division left behind by the British. India’s rich Islamic past is reduced to a period of temple destruction and oppression, and its cultural and religious diversity portrayed as a pernicious disease. This has led to Indian actors such as John Abraham describing the industry, in the absence of secularism, as walking a tight-rope. 

Bollywood’s demise becomes more unsettling when you realise that these propaganda films have a lasting impression in a nation where it is more akin to a lifestyle than a mere industry. The anti-minority rhetoric symbolises a broader attempt by nationalists to completely rewrite India’s history and erase the over 1,000 years of Islamic influence. The demonisation of Pakistan is especially problematic, leaving the millions of Pakistanis who contributed to the success of Bollywood being actively vilified and forced to answer for the actions of their government. It is fair to say that the golden era of Bollywood is well and truly over, leaving in its place a fascist propaganda machine whose bigotry and intolerance will only continue to be a source of division and hatred.