Independence Day. Can you imagine this occasion without Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak, Nehru, Netaji Bose, BR Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, Sardar Patel… and from the Bollywood side, Akshay Kumar? You might as well add John Abraham and Kangana Ranaut to that list, lest the duo have any hard feelings later. These are just three of the Hindi marquee stars, with a little help from Ajay Devgn, who are responsible for the extraordinary rise of patriotic-themed Hindi movies in the last decade. Put another way, if the “josh” of nationalistic content is high these days — sorry, Uri (2019)guys — blame it on the Desi Boyz (2011) and our very own Rani Jhansi (Manikarnika, 2019) who famously called herself an “ultranationalist.”
In fact, Kangana’s Manikarnika and the Vicky Kaushal starrer Uri might just be the first cultural artefacts of the Modi era. A National award winner for her leading lady, the Rani Lakshmi Bai biopic Manikarnika celebrated India’s rich past while Uri talked proudly about the triumphant “naya Hindustan” (new India), au courant with the Prime Minister’s vision for India as the next military and economic superpower. One way to track how Hindi films have got so nationalistic in flavour lately is to look for the traces of the Tricolour in its frames. That won’t be difficult because symbolically speaking, the Indian flag is virtually everywhere in Bollywood movies of today.
In Shershaah, the latest of a clutch of patriotic Hindi releases, Siddharth Malhotra plays the Kargil war hero Vikram Batra, who sacrificed his life on the battlefield. As the Tricolour is hosted suggesting victory over Pakistani intruders, Captain Batra breathes his last. Inspired by the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971 and set mostly in a submarine, The Ghazi Attack (2017) ends on a similarly rousing note with Atul Kulkarni’s naval officer foisting the flag as an instrumental version of the National Anthem fills the soundtrack.
Reema Kagti’s hockey saga Gold (2018),too, closes with the flag unfurling high as ‘Jana Gana Mana’ brings tears to the avenger Tapan Das (Akshay) and the rest of the teammates. A far cry, one must add here, from the days when Akshay Kumar bowled for the same country (Great Britain) in Patiala House (2011) he so badly wanted to vanquish in Gold.
Even the recent sports flick, Saina (2021) sees badminton ace Saina Nehwal (Parineeti Chopra) clutching the flag and taking a victory lap after becoming world champion.
Much Flag-Waving
While most recent patriotic films have tried to capture the spirit of the times by inflicting a form of hyper chauvinism upon its audiences there are some notable exceptions. Romeo Akbar Walter (2019), for one, eschews the chest-beating approach though it’s a film very much in line with the prevalent ‘nation-comes-first’ narrative. In most patriotic films, ‘Jai Hind’ is a default war cry and somebody or the other is always fighting for ‘azaadi‘ (freedom). Here, in the gentlest of touch, you see the intelligence boss (played by Jackie Shroff) pinning a lapel flag on the John Abraham character followed by a firm but friendly “best wishes.” (As usual, this film also ends with John saluting the flag).
A journey of a humble bank clerk called Rehamatullah Ali (John Abraham) who becomes a RAW undercover agent, Romeo Akbar Walter is a salute to thousands of such anonymous heroes who keep the motherland safe. The film shows Ali living with his widowed ammi but there’s another mother that he has to care for. When the country needs him he shows up, displaying the necessary spunk to cross the border to spy on the Pakistani army and hopefully, prevent some serious military attacks.
Sounds familiar? Probably because a year before, a demure Alia Bhatt did precisely that in Raazi without radiating an eroticised sense of nationalism. The same could be said of Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020) in which our fighter pilot protagonist’s (Janhvi Kapoor) father (Pankaj Tripathi) stays clear of rabble-rousing and instead, dishes out this sobering advice: “Do you think the Force needs those who chant, ‘Bharat mata ki jai’? Be a sincere and hard working pilot and you will automatically become a patriot.”
To be fair, the flag making a heroic appearance on Bollywood screens is nothing new. Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999) features Amitabh Bachchan’s timely entry as he saves the Tricolour from the ignominy of ending up as yet another rag to wrap piping hot samosas on a bustling Indian street. And before Akshay Kumar, there was Sunny Deol.
Though Sunny is best known to us for his “Hamara Hindustan zindabad tha, zindabad hai aur zindabad rahega” dare to Amrish Puri that takes place on enemy soil, the actor-turned-BJP MP is an equally angry customer in Maa Tujhe Salaam (2002) where, in one unintentionally funny scene, all he has to do is growl and the opponent wets his pant. In the film’s climax, an emotional Sunny picks up fallen flags while there’s death and destruction all around.
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