26 July,2026 02:19 PM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
Shaurya Thappa
Where there were calls for protests from the masses, there was the unmistakable lack of support from the Bollywood stars. Those who did speak out were accused of "being too late to the party" and performative activism. An industry where the most successful actors have paved their way through movies representing patriotism, activism, and much more, have conveniently shifted away.
Freelance film journalist and content creator Shaurya Thapa, believes that this shift in Bollywood is most visible through the sheer lack of protest music that has come out in the last decade. Reels today are still being cut to music from 10 years ago, from Rang De Basanti to Sadda Haq to Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera to Aarambh Hai Prachand.
"It's not like the Congress regime had a perfect track record in upholding minorities rights and ensuring a corruption-free bureaucracy, but the ecosystem was such that films like Rang De Basanti [2006] and Yuva [2004] could be made. The censor board was never lenient but not this strict either as we see in the current times of Satluj being banned," he says, "I think protest music has majorly decreased in Bollywood because most releases are fixated with praising the government rather than showcasing any rebellions where you now have composers like Meet Bros Anjan cook up a Modi hai toh Mumkin Hai."
"By no means am I implying the makers and faces of such songs and films stood by their politics. Most of them either chose to be vehemently in support of the current ruling government in the face of democratic crises or they became political only when it was convenient and co-opted a protest without a strong core ideology," he continues. Today, he argues, Bollywood is more invested in "forced hooksteps" and patriotic spectacles than songs that question power.
That void, he says, is being filled online. "Instagram has become such an audio-visual medium after its Reels feature that music is inescapable with even serious calls to action and protests." Just as Hum Dekhenge, Bella Ciao, and Dammi Falastini have echoed through movements across the world, CJP supporters have turned to familiar Bollywood tracks that resonate with young audiences.
"Many of the younger participants are standing for much more than what the CJP or Sonam Wangchuk would want. That drive and rage against the state and the police brutality - that alone can hopefully point to this era in Indian activism as beyond aesthetics."
