Bollywood's big campain to save its rep
The TLDR: The biggest names in the film industry banded together to file a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking a restraining order on Times Now and Republic TV. It marks a rare moment of unity and rebellion in an industry that has mostly preferred to toe the establishment line.
Tell me about this petition...
Who: It was filed by four industry organisations and 34 production houses—including Aamir Khan Productions, Ajay Devgn Fflims, Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network, Arbaaz Khan Productions, Ashutosh Gowariker Productions and Dharma Productions. Most notable of the lot: Cape of Good Hope Films which is owned by Akshay Kumar.
What: It specifically names Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami and Rahul Shivshankar of Times Now and others associated with the channel—along with “unknown persons” on social media platforms.
The petition demands these people “refrain from making or publishing irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks” against Bollywood and its members—and “conducting media trials” of Bollywood personalities.
And it cites at length the specific smears used against the industry:
“This comes in the wake of these channels using highly derogatory words and expressions for Bollywood such as ‘dirt’, ‘filth’, ‘scum’, ‘druggies’ and expressions such as ‘it is Bollywood where the dirt needs to be cleaned’, ‘all the perfumes of Arabia cannot take away the stench and the stink of this filth and scum of the underbelly of Bollywood’, ‘this is the dirtiest industry in the country’, and ‘cocaine and LSD drenched Bollywood.’”
And it points out that such a smear campaign “severely impacts” the livelihoods of everyone associated with the industry which “is unique and dependent almost solely on the goodwill, appreciation and acceptance of its audience.”
Point to note: The petition is careful to note that it is “not seeking a blanket gag order.” It asks that the channels “abide by the provisions of the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Rules.” Also: “to recall and take down all the defamatory content published by them against the film industry.”
Er, what is this Programme Code?
The Programme Code is part of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act created in 1995. It has a list of rules that govern what kind of content TV channels can air. The rules most likely to be relevant to this case prohibit any programming that:
- Offends against good taste or decency;
- Contains anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half truths;
- Criticises, maligns or slanders any individual in person or certain groups, segments of social, public and moral life of the country.
Is this a big deal?
Yes, and for several reasons.
One: As The Telegraph points out: “The petition marks a milestone moment in showbiz that usually fights shy of stepping up and taking a collective stand on raging issues.” That even an Akshay Kumar is in the mix reveals how anxious the industry is about the rising tide of media bile. As one filmmaker told Indian Express a few days ago:
“It’s not even really an industry. It’s just a bunch of individuals making films where they can. Producers, directors and actors are only 5%, 95% comprise technicians and workers.”
Two: It runs contrary to the usual impulse to bend to authority—as Karan Johar did with his cringey announcement of a #ChangeWithin movie project “drawing inspiration from our Honorable Prime Minister from whom we also seek sustained guidance.”
This impulse is hardly new or unusual—and it reflects the lesson learned during the Emergency when anyone who defied the government was routinely punished. For example, Gulzar’s ‘Aandhi’ was banned because he shied away from making a movie on the Youth Congress. Reels of ‘Kissa Kursi Ka’ were burned because it satirised Gandhi Jr. And the likes of Dev Anand, Kishore Kumar, and Shatrughan Sinha were blacklisted.
Point to note: To date, Bollywood has made only one movie on the Emergency days. And no mainstream director has touched the Gujarat riots. Filmmaker Rakesh Sharma sums up the industry’s enduring philosophy:
“You will not find filmmakers taking a stand on burning issues of the day. They want to play safe. Mainstream cinema is driven by market compulsions. It’s a trend you see all around you today… People don’t want to take on the system for fear of both lack of interest and the bottom line."
But why push back at the media?
Thanks to the Sushant Singh Rajput case—which deteriorated into a sweeping witch-hunt—and more recently, the rape allegations against Anurag Kashyap, there is a growing sense of paranoia:
“Insiders talk of a sense of siege, a question hanging in the air: ‘Who’s next?’
‘It’s an attack on all fronts. Then you know that anything, the Censor Board, everything, is going to work towards pushing you down,’ says a filmmaker with several hits under his belt. ‘We all have slip-ups, especially when making films. Crores go through banks… some accounting mistake. That’s what they’ll use.’”
And the media’s role is unprecedented and scary. As one filmmaker says:
“Right now, how does anyone speak? There’s a witch hunt on… The other thing is, what used to give citizens a certain courage, that whatever happens, the media will protect us, where is it today? The media is part of the lynch mob.”
In the old socialist-era days, at worst, Kishore Kumar’s songs were banned on All India Radio and Doordarshan.
So this is a big rebellion?
Nope, we wouldn’t go that far. It is one thing to take on a few TV channels and quite another to say ‘no’ to the almighty government. Bollywood isn’t challenging the status quo. It is merely protecting its core interests. As political scientist Suhas Palshikar tweeted:
“Filing suit is fine. Real test will be whether the industry succumbs to pressures about what it should and should not place before the public. The war is over culture. And of course who it gives money to and what political stand it takes.’’
The bottomline: Suing Arnab and Rahul is well and good, but don’t expect Bollywood to abandon its eagerness to make the #ChangeWithin—as per the government’s diktat. That would be truly bad for business.
Reading list
The Telegraph has the best reporting on the lawsuit. Indian Express did a brilliant reported piece on the rising tide of anxiety within Bollywood. The Wire explains why The Programme Code is a vaguely worded mess that can be both ignored and misused at will. Mint and Sunday Guardian have older but solid pieces on Bollywood during the Emergency. Also read: Pritish Nandy’s New York Times op-ed which connects the siege of Bollywood to the state of Indian politics.
A fun footnote: The lead image has long been making the rounds of the internet—allegedly as a McCarthy-era propaganda poster targeting Hollywood. But the words are actually taken from a letter written to Queen Victoria by her uncle, King Leopold I, warning against the dangers of mixing with dreadful ‘artists’. Using this bit of fake news for this story is both fitting and ironic:)