Poisoning young minds, one film at a time

Movie
Image Courtesy:Twitter

The Kashmir Files , a communally polarising movie, has made a lot of money since it was released, breaking records of sorts, as a lot of people paid to see it in cinema halls across the country.

Many rich people bought hundreds of tickets each, so many more could see the film for free. There were calls to make it tax free across the country. The film was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament, and continues to be promoted by other politicians and the cash registers have not stopped ringing for the filmmakers. It is not yet known if they have donated a portion of these massive profits to help rehabilitate the displaced Kashmiri Pandits back in the Valley, as the film’s story is based on the exodus of the community from their homes following militant attacks.

However, there is another lesser known impact of The Kashmir Files. It seems to have inspired a series of wannabe films, which have also hit the market. These films however, do not have any political patronage so far, and therefore, have not had the hype to help them market their hate agendas. Unlike The Kashmir Files, these films have a cast and crew who are unknown so far, and need all the help from right-wing social media influencers to promote themselves along with the film.

The latest release is a titled The Conversion which is made on the bogey of Love Jihad, a concept the right-wing has created to criminalise and attack marriages and relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women. The makers of this film are now using the tagline that it is “Dedicated to India’s Daughters”.

Video clips are now being released on social media to promote it, and encourage young girls to see it. This itself is a hate campaign that is using children to promote communal hate towards Muslims. The film is being promoted using hashtags #SaveOurDaughters #TheConversion, with videos of young children asking people to go see it.

Tomorrow releasing this movie the conversion please support this movie? ? loveJihad #saveourdaughter pic.twitter.com/Sg7mwdrfwN
— Gotlathirupathigotlayadav (@Gotlathirupathi) May 5, 2022

There are also videos doing the rounds of WhatsApp, where a woman is trying to convince young students to ask their teachers and parents to make arrangements for them to see the film, saying, “This film is for girls.” The video is marked BJYM, that stands for Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. The woman says it is important to see the film as it talks about the “crime of Love Jihad” and how “girls as little as 6 months, 10 year etc…. Are being made victims of Love Jihad.” The woman volunteers to make arrangements if the girl’s parents cannot afford to take them for the film which was released in theatres across the country on May 6.

The Conversion is set in Varanasi, and its cast includes Vindhya Tiwari, Prateek Shukla and Ravi Bhatia. It has been directed by Vinod Tiwari, written by Vandana Tiwari, and produced by Raj Patel, Raj Nostrum, Vipul Patel. The screenplay and dialogues are by Rakesh Tripathi. It is not known if all the Tiwaris mentioned in the credit rolls are related.

They have of course been busy, some since 2021, to promote the film on various right-wing platforms, and are giving interviews to various right-wing social media ‘influencers’.

According to a review by Times of India, the film only deserves two stars. Though looking at the trailer it is apparent to any movie viewer that it is two stars too many. Though the lead does try very hard to act, and even the better performers are sunk by the bad cliches that make up for dialogues in the movie which starts with Sakshi and Babloo college students who fall in love. Babloo is Muslim and yet Sakshi decides to marry him.

As the trailer shows, there is violence etc., but the ‘performances’ made the drama seem more like an ridiculous comedic attempt at acting. “This film with its below-par production values and average performances, turns out to be a dreary affair,” reviewed TOI.

The film’s mood seems set in the 80s and 90s and is as stale as leftover bread from the era. Sakshi played by Vindhya Tiwari and Babloo played by Prateek Shukla, seem as interesting as last month’s film magazine. Even veteran actors like Manoj Joshi and Amit Behl cannot help keep it afloat due to the cliched dialogues they have to mouth and the direction which perhaps should not be called that.

However, what is dangerous is not how boring the film is likely to be, it is the fact that the filmmakers are hoping to find the same political favour like the makers of The Kashmir Files. It is aimed at pleasing, and earning rewards, from the so called ‘Hindutva nationalist’ crowds which have proven how cinema halls are now added to their venues of spreading hate.