It’s no secret that the Indian film industry is the largest producer of films in the world and also the largest in terms of ticket sales. One thing that binds Indians around the world together is Indian cinema. The other being cricket that, in India, transcends beyond being just a sport and is an integral part of the collective conscience of the nation.
Both Films and Cricket have time and again used ‘nationalism’ to further their products and activities. Patriotic films and patriotic fervour during cricket matches have always succeeded, in the past, and even today continue to tug at our heartstrings.
The reach of Indian Film Industry
The Indian film industry is not just the largest but also among the more popular cinema in the world. Cinema is immensely popular in India and every year more than 1,800 films are produced in India in several languages. India also has the largest number of film admissions displaying diversity. Major centres of film production in India include Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Kochi, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar-Cuttack.
Films made in India have a huge viewership not just in India but in several nations around the world especially with a significant expatriate population. So, Indian films have a dedicated fan base in Europe, South Asia, North America, China, the Greater Middle East, Eastern Africa, etc., in over 90 countries around the world. Overseas revenue account for 12 per cent of the industry’s total revenues and music rights comprise about five per cent of the net revenue.
Today, the Indian film industry regularly churns out big budget films such as Bahubali: The Beginning that was made with a budget of Rs 180 crore, dubbed in more than three languages and collected Rs 650 crore domestically. In 2019, the overall revenue of Indian cinema reached USD 2.7 billion.
Patriotic films unify Indians, overseas too
For an industry that size and reach that has transformed and evolved over decades, patriotism has been a constant feature. Patriotic films have not just moved billions of Indians worldwide but also unified them in more ways than one. “I feel patriotic films have played a huge role in keeping Indians living abroad stay connected to their roots,” remarks Mumbai-based film-making student Nithya Menon. “I don’t think any other film industry has exploited the nationalism theme as much as in India, probably because India is a young country but it definitely works.”
And rightly so, India is a young democracy that ‘struggled’ to gain independence from the British colonial rule. In the last two decades, several film-makers have used the Indian freedom struggle, the numerous battles and wars, lives of freedom fighters, Indian Army, sacrifices of the soldiers, etc., as the central theme of their films to appeal to the masses. And, that has never failed.
More recently, films like Border, LOC Kargil, Lagaan, Mangal Pandey, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Rang De Basanti, Lakshya, Chak De! India, A Wednesday, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Roja, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Hindustani, Airlift, Pukar, Baby, Kesari, The Ghazi Attack, Uri: The Surgical Strike, etc. have all played on nationalism or on the sacrifices of Indian soldiers in protecting the nation from the enemy – domestic and foreign both.
“I have been living in Austria for more than three decades now but even today I keep an eye for the latest Bollywood releases. I have many favourites but films that focus on India’s freedom struggle are very close to my heart. It reminds me of my roots,” notes Vienna-based restaurateur Amita Singh.
The legacy of patriotic films
Ever since Indian cinema came into being, film-makers have time and again doled out patriotic films for the drama-hungry audience. When it comes to stirring the emotions of the countrymen for heroes raising the national flag, defending the borders or those upholding national pride in sports, science, performing arts, etc. and making a name for the country around the world, Indian films have done it all.
One of Indian cinema’s classics, Mother India tells the story of a newly-independent India and the struggles of a family to make ends meet. Manoj Kumar’s Purab Aur Paschim (1970) moves audience till date when the protagonist talks with pride about India and gives it back to the ‘West.’ Akshay Kumar’s Namastey London had a similar plot that was released after 37 years in 2007. Nana Patekar’s Prahaar was a film that depicts the life of an Indian soldier and how he adjusts to the life of a civilian as a disciplined and upright person. Patekar’s Krantiveer was also a patriotic movie that depicts the country’s fight with social evils. Kamal Haasan-starrer Hindustani had him as a patriot fighting corruption in India to make the country like the freedom fighters had dreamt of.
Nationalism through other achievements
Besides spy movies where intelligence officers are trying to subvert terror attacks in India or films depicting India-Pakistan conflict or those glorifying the sacrifices of the soldiers or where the common man stands up to raise his voice against corruption, injustice, etc., several films have lit the patriotic fervour among masses through stories of India’s success and extraordinary achievements in the fields of sports, science, literature, activism, etc.
Many films, in the past and now, have beautifully captured the journey of the country and its extraordinary citizens who have shone in diverse fields. Shahrukh Khan’s Swades is about a NASA scientist who returns to India to help people from his village avail basic amenity like electricity.
Vidya Balan and Akshay Kumar-starrer Mission Mangal is based on the life of the scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) who contributed to India’s first interplanetary expedition – Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). MOM was considered an impossible mission for several reasons but it ended up as a successful mission. The film was theatrically released in India on 15 August 2019, India’s Independence Day. John Abraham’s 2018 film Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran was based on the nuclear bomb test explosions conducted by the Indian Army at Pokhran in 1998.
Sports symbolic of nationalism
Sports, in India, just like the rest of the world have always triggered patriotic emotions among the countrymen. Sportspersons represent their country at international fora and bring laurels to the nation. There is a long list of Indian films that are witness to the cinema’s affair with sports and sports drama.
Indian cricket The Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) is the richest cricket board in the world and Indian cricketers are some of the richest sportspersons in the world. Films such as M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story beautifully captured the journey of legendary cricketer M S Dhoni. Shreyas Talpade’s Iqbal too is based on cricket.
Films, fortunately, have gone beyond the omnipresent cricket and have tapped hundreds of untold stories of sportspersons, coaches and legends in various sports. Other films on sports and sportsmen include Chak De! India, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Kom, Sultan, Dangal, Saala Khadoos, Gold, etc.
Each of these films attempt to capture national pride on international platforms. Some may be biographical, other fictionalised but nationalism and the idea of India and Indians rising above personal differences for the nation is an evergreen theme for Indian films.
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Manu Shrivastava
Manu Shrivastava is a media legal researcher with DraftCraft International, and co-convener of ‘The Woman Survivor’ initiative that documents abuse of women and children within families.
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