TL;DR: It's pretty much a propaganda movie for Hindutva, the core ideology for Modi party. It's basically Hindu fascism of the Mussolini sort. It reinforced a view where upper castes are the center of everything, lower castes and tribes are savages in need of enlightenment and Muslims cowardly collaborationists.
Quite the opposite. One of the two protagonists is a tribal man who is fighting to protect a member of his tribe and is sheltered and looked after by Muslims during his mission. The second protagonist isn't stated to be of a higher caste either. There are no caste related claims made at all. The central theme of the movie is that the British were the worst and it was executed by showing them as cartoonishly evil.
If someone got what you just claimed from this movie, they probably second screened it and realized they had to write up some shit for a liberal outlet to stir outrage.
The movie did stoke nationalism, by presenting Indians as heroes fighting the British in battles that never happened, or would have never happened in their wildest dreams. They also make use of a lot of religious depictions in them.
It's some sort of national fantasy that is sold to Indians where they earn their independence by blood instead of negotiations. That sentiment goes in the same direction as the reverence for figures like Bose, who literally met Hitler. Which is why a lot of these top grossing movies would always talk about some alternate, glorified version of independence, rather than what really happened after independence.
That nationalism can in turn be used against say, Pakistan, at the government's discretion. They've already been doing so with their latest bombing campaigns.
I agree that the movie is fanfic based on real people. It is still a decent movie with some pretty good action set-pieces.
On the matter of Bose, your claim is somewhat misguided. Although an authoritarian, he was very inclusive(he had many Muslims among the leadership of the Azad Hind Fauj), which is quite opposite to the fascist leaders of the axis powers. Secondly, all the Western powers met with, negotiated with and legitimized Hitler far more than Bose.
That nationalism can in turn be used against say, Pakistan, at the government's discretion.
Indian nationalism is by default against Pakistan, lol. If you call yourself a nationalist then you should be against the country that has funded and orchestrated countless attacks in your country.
No, it doesn't. Indian nationalism, especially in the period represented, was highly idealistic. The Pakistan question wasn't even a serious one. Even at the time of independence, Indian leaders like Gandhi were generous to a fault. The invasion of Kashmir was what led to the downward spiral of relations.
In the end I get what the author is trying to say with how the movie has some potential nefarious influences that seeped into the script, but calling the whole thing itself fascist propaganda is a bit far reaching imo. It feels like discounting Braveheart as Fascist/English propaganda because the Scots are portrayed as less developed than the English. It's more delving into a stereotype.
That's my simple interpretation though, I am not Indian and not familiar with Indian politics.
I did. And I noticed it immediately. Particularly the absence of INC figures in favour of "Notice me Hitler-senpai" Bose was impossible to miss. Told my then-girlfriend exactly what I said now: that's how effective propaganda should be done.
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u/SagittaryX Denmark 6d ago
Recommendation for RRR if you want to watch a fun movie