Propaganda or Not

Why do some movies/series feel like storytelling while some feel like they are trying to program our brains? lol. Earlier Today, I was talking to one of my close friends about "Propaganda or Not". It was quite interesting to elaborate on the same so thought of penning it down! I believe in current times, the term "Propaganda" has somewhat got its limelight, to be honest, I have not watched many movies believed to be falling under that category which I’ll skip naming to keep things politically safe, so if you know you know :) You might be wondering—why am I even talking about these films if I haven’t watched them? Fair enough. But hear me out—I’m just presenting my perspective on the broader pattern I’ve noticed. Yea, I know what you are thinking, "This woman is still not on the point"...SO YEA coming precisely there, I feel like its not obviously wrong to make film showcasing true events which involve different communities (religious or anything) but I kind of also feel like when you do that as a director you always have the creative liberty to not villainize the entire community but to just villainize the certain section of that community which do the awful deeds. Let me explain with an example, one of my favorite movies, "Darlings" by Jasmeet K Reen, very meticulously presents this evil man in the form of Hamza but also shows the supportive men like Zulfi and Kasim Kasai. So it very skillfully presents its point against domestic violence but also doesn't villainize all men! With that mindset and creative liberty, I think filmmakers can avoid slipping into propaganda. I mean in a few movies, the portrayal of brutality and dialogues the feeling of hatred against the entire community is so easy to inculcate in the audience so the creator must really be aware of it. To be frank, to fill in big box office numbers creators probably chose the route of propaganda despite knowing all this because agree or not there is politics in there! Again, I am not saying don't show the brutality of the cruel event(s) but also understand that the feeling of violence and hatred is so easy to push into the audience, so just one 5 minute scene of showing there are good people in that community too who did not support the cruelty or even just making a small addition to the main cop character would do it.

Talking about propaganda, I might also have another point, well this may not "conventionally" be considered as propaganda but according to me it is at certain level it is...I've always had this slight problem with the portrayal of a "Strong Independent Woman" in most mainstream cinema, Why does she have to smoke or drink to be termed that? I am not saying "Woh ladki hai usse nahi karna chahiye", I am saying, "Woh ek intelligent independent insaan hai, so she is just smart enough to not do something that quite evidently affects her health". Now of course, characters should be there where in they want to show that character but my point is it kind of feels like its becoming a trope which does not make sense, because in todays times it is altering the definition of the "Strong Independent Woman" which should not become a trope, I believe any sane person would not choose to smoke or drink or at least if under circumstances he or she is then they would accept that it is wrong and not pass it of as "liberty". I feel like I'll get into trouble if misunderstood but my point is literally not offensive If understood, I hope, you, dear reader, get me XD. To express my sheer love towards "Dupahiya" by Sonam Nair and also not give spoilers, I believe the ending of season-1 and the character development of Roshni's character to me is the start towards the building of a "Strong Independent Woman" in her context! Darlings does that too in its ending with "Par main yeh bhul gayi ke Respects toh meri hai na"

So what do you think—can filmmakers strike a balance between truth and sensitivity? Drop your thoughts!


Here are the Links towards the imdb pages of both the creative mentions in the blog and to be honest my recommendations too: 

1. Dupahiya : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31925820/


Thank you for reading this longer than usual one :) 











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