The controversy raked up over remarks made by the music composer AR Rahman is illustrative of how the Hindutva right-wing pounces upon even innocuous utterances by artistes to execute its pet project of capturing platforms of art and culture.
In an interview with BBC’s Asian service, Rahman said, not pointedly but in passing, that his work has dwindled in Bollywood in the past eight years. He cited multiple reasons for this: “A power shift has happened. People who are not creative have the power now to decide things…. And this might have been a communal thing also…. I hear Chinese whispers that this happened,” he said.
The maestro proceeded to acknowledge, without betraying the slightest anger, the propaganda takeover of Indian cinema, a phenomenon that’s as clear as daylight. He indicated he had misgivings about working on “divisive" projects that cash in on jingoistic sentiments while purporting to extol patriotism.
The mere mention of the C word, ‘communal’, by Rahman, a Muslim who was born Hindu, was enough to trigger outrage in the Hindutva community.
The actress and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut took the lead in attacking the star composer for being ungrateful for all the national accolades heaped upon him previously. She said Rahman was a "prejudiced and hateful" man who had once declined to compose the score for her film Emergency because he thought it was propaganda. Considering that the film was textbook propaganda, her point was obtuse and only confirmed Rehman’s artistic judgement.
This is not the first time that innocuous statements made by artists belonging to minority communities have become grist to the mill of the Hindutva project.
Since the advent of Narendra Modi in 2014, Sangh Parivar organisations and fronts have not let go of any opportunity, nor spared any sleight of hand, to tighten their seizure of the film industry and convert it into a platform for their brand of ethnonationalism. A part of this strategy is to feign offence and intimidate major voices into silence and submission.
In 2015, actor Amir Khan, an influential mentor to many upcoming directors, was hounded after his then-wife said she didn’t like living in India anymore. Subsequently, every major release of his has been affected by boycotts and protests by right-wing fronts.
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has been regularly targeted for his outspoken views against communalism. In 2018, he was targeted viciously for expressing fear for the safety of his children and for speaking out against propaganda films like Kerala Files.
As recently as two weeks ago, Hindutva affiliates kicked up a controversy when Shah Rukh Khan’s Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders signed up Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rehman for this year’s tournament.
Being an ethnonationalist, Hindutva craves for space on the two all-India platforms, Bollywood and cricket, that all Indians agree on. Nagpur envies and covets Bollywood for the huge reach it has into the hearts and minds of Indians.
Any voice that speaks up for India’s composite culture is an enemy of it. The correct response to these invasive tactics is not to cow down as the majority of India’s film superstars have so far, but to continue to tell it like it is.
As Rahman has said in his clarification to the controversy, his work speaks eloquently enough for India. Every August 15 or January 26, his rendition of Vande Mataram is played on every street in the country.