Samrat Prithviraj and other films that got a thumbs up from the BJP

If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to collectively pick a favourite movie star it most probably would be Akshay Kumar.

Samrat Prithviraj, a biopic of ruler Prithviraj Chauhan starring Kumar and former Miss World Manushi Chhillar, which hits the theatres today has already got a thumbs up from two of the party’s most influential leaders – Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Shah attended a special screening of the film on Wednesday. He called the movie “an epic (which) can at times ignite pride and mass awareness that hundreds of books cannot”.

A day later, it was Adityanath’s date with Kumar. He attended a special screening of the period drama with his Cabinet colleagues and the Bollywood star. The CM also declared the movie tax-free, a decision which was followed by his counterparts in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Taking to Twitter, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the call to make the film tax-free was to ensure that a “maximum number of youth sees the movie and learn” about the life of the Rajput ruler and a feeling of love can be “inculcated in them towards their motherland”.

महान योद्धा सम्राट पृथ्वीराज चौहान के जीवन पर आधारित श्री @akshaykumar जी अभिनीत फिल्म "सम्राट पृथ्वीराज" को मध्यप्रदेश में हमने टैक्स फ्री करने का निर्णय लिया, जिससे महान सम्राट के जीवन को अधिक से अधिक युवा देखें और उनमें मातृभूमि के प्रति अधिक प्रेम जागृत हो।

— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) June 2, 2022

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that Samrat Prithviraj should be seen by all, stressing that the emperor was also “beheaded”, news agency ANI reported. “Coming generations should also take inspiration from him, so we have decided that this film will be tax-free in Uttarakhand,” he was quoted as saying.

The Kashmir Files

However, the biopic is not the only one which the party has endorsed. A controversial film that the BJP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi put its weight behind was Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files . The movie on the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Pandits kicked up a storm in the country with many contesting the portrayal of the horror that unfolded in the Valley.

Modi met director Agnihotri and actor Pallavi Joshi, who plays the role of a professor in the film. At a BJP parliamentary meeting held on 15 March days after the release of the film, the prime minister spoke on the role of the film industry in presenting history. He added that a campaign was being run to discredit The Kashmir Files.

“Jo log hamesha freedom of expression ki jhande lekar ke ghoomte hain, woh poori jamaat bokhala gayi hai pichale paanch-chheh din se (Those who always carry the flag of freedom of expression, this entire group has been rattled these past 5-6 days),” he said.

#WATCH | At BJP Parliamentary Party meet, PM speaks on role of film industry in presenting history. He also mentions 'The Kashmir Files'; says "People who always raise flag of freedom of expression are restless. Instead of reviewing on facts, campaign being run to discredit it.." pic.twitter.com/mq8iqA6Ajk

— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2022

The film was made tax-free in six BJP ruled states – Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Goa, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government declared a leave for policemen to encourage them to watch the movie. It also announced a genocide museum for Kashmiri Pandits.

In Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma gave government employees a half-day special leave to watch the film. And in Karnataka, a BJP MLA from Mangaluru Y Bharath Shetty arranged free tickets for party workers from his constituency.

The Modi biopic

No other film has received as much support from the ruling party. However, in 2019, during the high-octane Lok Sabha campaign, a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi starring Vivek Oberoi, created a stir after run-ins with the Election Commission (EC).

The film, PM Narendra Modi , was scheduled to release on 11 May that year. However, the EC intervened stating it would have to wait until the final phase of voting was over on 19 May. The order banning the release or screening of political biopics acknowledged the need for the EC to intervene in the matter of political content intended to benefit or discredit the electoral prospects of any candidate or political party to ensure a level playing field.

The EC also pulled up the filmmakers for a full-page advertisement for the Modi biopic in two newspapers, terming it “a surrogate advertisement with political overtures”. However, the producers denied links to any political party, and said they had “put in their personal money for making the film”.

After much drama, the biopic was released in the theatres on 24 May. It will was released once again after the theatres opened post-lockdown.

The Accidental Prime Minister

In January 2019, the Anupam Kher-starrer The Accidental Prime Minister on former prime minister Manmohan Singh hit the theatres. The film, based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by the former PM’s media advisor Sanjaya Baru, was critical of Dr Singh.

Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte and written by Mayank Tewari, the movie was quickly endorsed by the BJP after its release. The party’s Twitter handle called it a “riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years”, taking a dig at the Gandhis.

Riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years. Was Dr Singh just a regent who was holding on to the PM’s chair till the time heir was ready? Watch the official trailer of #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister, based on an insider’s account, releasing on 11 Jan! pic.twitter.com/ToliKa8xaH

— BJP (@BJP4India) December 27, 2018

The key actors in the film had links to the BJP. Anupam Kher, who plays the role of Dr Singh, is the husband of BJP MP Kirron Kher and Akshaye Khanna, who plays the role of Baru is the son of the late actor and BJP MP Vinod Khanna.

Uri: A Surgical Strike

The strikes carried out against Pakistani terrorist camps to avenge the September 2016 attack on the Indian Army camp in Kashmir’s Uri was a big feather in the ruling party’s cap. So when a movie on the incident, starring Vicky Kaushal, was released in January 2019, the party went all out to back it. The film’s dialogue ‘How’s the josh’ became so popular that then finance minister Piyush Goyal referenced it in his interim budget speech.

Uri: The Surgical Strike was made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh. “This film is about the country’s valour and will instil a feeling of nationalism and patriotism. This will help youth and all citizens of the country to see it,” Adityanath had said.

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha

The Akshay Kumar-Bhumi Pednekar film was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project during his first term – the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The film promoted a message of cleanliness and criticised open defecation. “Nature is not a toilet, it’s a place to love,” Pednekar had tweeted ahead of the release of the film.

After it hit the big screen, Uttar Pradesh made the movie tax free, the first in the GST era.

With inputs from agencies

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