What are GST, demonetisation, Swachh Bharat doing in films? Inspiring stories, that’s what!

The Bollywood film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha spread the spirit of Swachh Bharat more effectively than any sarkari campaign could. Other government policies are also finding their space on the silver screen. We ask industry insiders to analyse the trend.

Politics has frequently been the subject of films in India — that includes mainstream Bollywood films — but an interesting new trend is the way specific government policies, e.g. GST, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, demonetisation etc, are now finding their moment on the silver screen.

A still from the film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, whose plot was aligned with the message of the Swachh Bharat campaign.

The film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, a love story starring Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar, spread the spirit of Swachh Bharat perhaps more effectively than any government campaign could. Tamil star Vijay’s action thriller Mersal (meaning ‘shocking’) has a reference to GST (Goods and Services Tax). Earlier this year, the Bengali movie Shunyota (meaning ‘emptiness’), directed by Suvendu Ghosh, was based on the impact of demonetisation, a subject that also inspired the Malayalam film Puthan Panam (meaning ‘new money’), starring Mammootty.

A still from Vijay’s Tamil film Mersal, which has a reference to GST (Goods and Services Tax).

Filmmaker Shree Narayan Singh, who helmed Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, feels that it is important to make such films as they help people to understand the policies better. “Of course, it is important as there has to be a general awareness among people as a whole. Indirectly, through films, I am trying to convey a message along with entertaining the public,” says the filmmaker.

After directing Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, filmmaker Shree Narayan Singh is gearing up to helm Batti Gul Meter Chalu, which is about the escalating electricity tariffs in the country.

Singh is also on board to direct Batti Gul Meter Chalu, a film about a common man’s fight against power distribution companies, an issue plaguing every moderate income household in the country today. The movie will see actor Shahid Kapoor in the lead role. “The aim is that rather than being preachy, I want to create a general consciousness and help the common man to understand the dark reality of what one faces from service providers,” Singh says.

Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi , who has starred in Newton, believes that it is important for cinema to reflect society and talk about government policies.

Tripathi further says that it is the responsibility of films to question government policies. “If films are made in support of government policies, like we saw with Toilet : Ek Prem Katha, it is great; and if [a film] is against some policy, then also it should be accepted. It is cinema’s responsibility to question the government and society,” he says.

Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta asserts that since there is so much promotion surrounding the biggest government policies, the audience is already familiar with these subjects. This familiarity, in turn, makes viewers more responsive to films that are based on these subjects or have a strong reference to them. “If there’s a joke or a mention of a certain policy in a film, then everyone identifies with it,” says Nahta. “I think it’s a good thing that directors are making films themed around government policies.”