The general elections are looming and Bollywood's getting into the act with a string of jingoistic movies that hype Hindutva and pro-government themes. Being celebrated are Hindutva heroes like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who advocated a “Hindu nation.” In the line of fire – no surprises here – are “leftists” and “left-liberal pseudo intellectuals,” Muslims and even Mahatma Gandhi.

Zee Studios’ biopic of Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar, marks the directorial debut of actor Randeep Hooda, who also stars in the flick. It’s due to hit screens on March 22. Savarkar’s depicted as the misunderstood, unsung figure who “inspired armed revolution” against the British.

Hooda promises “history will be rewritten” with the movie about Savarkar whose role in India’s freedom fight, he says, “has been wiped from history.” For good measure, the movie voiceover declares India would have thrown out the British three decades earlier were it not for Mahatma Gandhi.

Then, there’s Accident or Conspiracy: Godhra which recycles the argument that the spark which led to the Gujarat riots may have been pre-planned. Its poster shows hands stretched out of the window of a burning train. If cinema-goers have the appetite, there’s another movie about Godhra called The Sabarmati Report.

Another movie hitting screens is Jahangir National University which – very obviously – shortens to JNU. It’s already created a stir after releasing a poster showing a hand curled around a map of India and provocatively declaring: “Behind the closed walls of education brews a conspiracy to break the nation.” The movie, which opens April 5, argues that “urban Naxals are trying to divide the country.”

The movie's story revolves around Sourabh Sharma, a small-town boy who goes to JNU and is angered by what he sees as the “anti-national” campus activities of the Left wing. The film follows him as he challenges “leftist domination” of the university and opposes students waging “love jihad”.

The movie poster has led to heated battles on social media with some scoffing at the film and others defending it. “Waiting for JNU Movie which will expose the Central Funded University’s ugly truth,” said one X (formerly Twitter) user this week. “Bollywood propaganda is next level,” countered another user.

The big question is whether there are enough cinema fans for all these political-themed films or whether these movies will annihalate each other at the box office. Around 10 are either on screens or due to land in movie houses in the next few weeks.

Already on screens around the country is the movie Article 370. It made a strong start but has now tapered off after 18 days. The movie is expected to earn about Rs 75 crore at the box office. That isn’t bad considering the movie which stars Yami Gautam, was made on a tiny budget. “Imagine movies on Article 370 and JNU getting released within a few days of each other, right before the election,” marvelled one cinema-goer.

Article 370 has Gautam as a no-nonsense intelligence officer and throws in real-life events like Pulwama and the Balakot attack. But there's no mistaking its political views with Kashmiri politicians shown as corrupt clowns and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the shrewd politician who saves the day by removing Article 370 from the statute books.

Incidentally, in both Article 370 and Bastar, the state’s fightback against Kashmiri terrorists and Naxals, is led by strong women police officers and intelligence agents which could influence women voters. Modi has already praised Article 370, saying films like these are getting people “to show interest in such issues".

How do such movies with a clear political message fare at the box office? The record’s mixed. Vivek Agnihotri's Kashmir Files, a film about the Hindu exodus from Kashmir in the early 1990s, was a super-hit, grossing at least 10 times its modest production budget. But his next movie foray, The Vaccine Story, was a flop.

Another super-hit, The Kerala Story, also earned over Rs 300 crore at the box office even though it relied on gross exaggeration and was based on the premise that thousands of young Hindu girls were being converted to Islam and spirited out of the country to join the terrorist Islamic state group.

The Kerala Story's director Sudipto Sen is about to come out with Bastar, a tale about how the Naxalite uprising in the region was put down. Its trailer has hangings, shootings and a series of very brutal scenes.

Critics deride the movies as propaganda and attempts to curry favour with the BJP but film-makers dismiss such allegations. Bastar producer Vipul Shah told India Today that with the BJP poised to sweep the polls, “Do they really need our film to win the election? That's the most stupid and bizarre thing that I have heard.”

One movie that came out in January and sank without a trace was Main Atal Hoon which revolved around the life and times of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. That released in January and was pulled out of theatres in just a few days. It’s expected to soon make its TV appearance.

Similarly, another film, 72 Hoorain, which released in mid-2023, had a farfetched plot about two terrorists who die when attempting to explode a bomb near the Gateway of India. They believe they have been promised 72 virgins when they reach heaven for this act but begin to have doubts about their bombing efforts when they are in purgatory. The movie claims it is “inspired by true events”.

There’s also Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad, which is currently facing a court challenge to prevent its screening. The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights has accused the filmmakers of 'Islamophobia'. The movie revolves around the events that took place immediately after Independence when the razakars, the Nizam of Hyderabad's paramilitary forces, attempted to prevent the Indian Army’s Operation Polo to take over the region.

The film portrays the razakars as committing atrocities against the city’s Hindus. The film’s producer, Gudur Narayana Reddy, describes himself as a “Proud Karyakarta of BJP”. The director, Yata Satyanarayana, told one film publication that, “My film is 100 per cent based on history. Normally, in films, we tend to change things a little or add commercial elements. We did not do that.” Satyanarayana added: “I can sit in a debate with 100 people and dare them to point out one flaw or inaccuracy in the film.” The movie aims to release in Telugu and four other languages.

What do all these movies have in common? Many are straightforwardly anti-Muslim. Others like JNU are against “urban Naxals” and Bastar is against Naxalites. Savarkar portrays the Hindutva hero as, “The man who brought revolution… But became the most controversial leader.” The movie adds: “Unsung. Unhonoured. Unacknowledged. Unheard.” Director Hooda says that will all change with the release of the Savarkar biopic.