MD ALI
It has been observed that since the early 20th century, cinema has been the most immersive and collective social experience. It has been used not just for entertainment, but also as a mass medium for propaganda and ideological dissemination.
In India, for the past few years, a wave of films with similar themes has been flooding theatres, often infused with a considerable amount of propaganda disguised as stories based on real events.
These films — The Sabarmati Report (2024), Aakhir Palaayan Kab Tak? (2024), The Kashmir Files (2022), ‘The Kerala Story (2023), Swatantra Veer Savarkar (2024), JNU: Jahangir National University (2024), Bastar: The Naxal Story (2024), 72 Hoorain (72 Virgins) (2023) have been criticized for their biased representation and trying to set a tone that is aligned with the right-wing Hindutva politics. The allegory of the films is explicitly partisan and has the potential to deepen communal divides.
In the series of propaganda film productions and their seamless releases, the newest entry — Udaipur Files: Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder (2025) — which was set to release on July 11, has been put on hold by the High Court after a petition was filed against its release by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani.
The film is claimed to be based on the incident when two men—Mohammad Riyaz and Ghouse Mohammad—on June 28, 2022, posed as customers and hacked to death Kanhaiya Lal Teli at his shop in Udaipur. The attack was reportedly over a post shared by Teli on social media in support of Sharma, a former BJP spokesperson who was suspended for her objectionable remarks about the Prophet during a live television debate.
The Udaipur Files film is produced by Amit Jani and directed by Bharat S. Shrinate. The film stars Vijay Raaz as Kanhaiya Lal Teli in the leading role.
“The film’s trailer includes the controversial statement by Nupur Sharma, which not only worsened the communal atmosphere across the country but also tarnished the country’s image at the international level and negatively impacted our friendly relations with other countries,” Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani said.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com. Read the full story here.
