Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been using Bollywood as a propaganda tool to influence the outcome of the upcoming general elections in the country. In the past few months alone there’s been movies like Uri: The Surgical Strike, Thackeray, Accidental Prime Minister and Romeo Akbar Walter which were all meant to invoke a sense of nationalism in the Indian public, a key element of the BJP manifesto.
While all these films were able to strike a chord with the audience, a biopic based on Narendra Modi has now been stalled by the Indian Election Commission until the elections are over. In a report by Times of India, the Indian Election Commission issued a statement stating that any material which can alter the views of the public in favour of a political party or individual is banned until further notice.
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“Any biopic material in the nature of biography/hagiography sub-serving the purposes of any political entity or any individual entity connected to it which is intended to, or which has the potential to disturb the level playing field during the elections, should not be displayed in electronics media including cinematography during the operation of MCC (Model Code of Conduct),” the statement said.
It added that posters as well as any publicity material “concerning any such certified content, which either depicts a candidate (including prospective) for the furtherance (or purported to further) of electoral prospect, directly or indirectly, shall not be put to display in electronic media in the area where MCC is in operation.”
Modi will therefore not be releasing until May 19 which will mark the last phase of the Indian elections. The film — which features Vivek Oberoi in lead role — was to be released initially on April 5 but it was delayed till April 11 before eventually being banned.
