Box office over backbone: The anxiety behind Bollywood's reaction to the AR Rahman row

During a recent interview, BBC Asian Network's Haroon Rashid politely pressed Oscar-winning music composer A.R. Rahman to respond to the criticism that Islamophobia is coded into the way Muslims are depicted in the Hindi film Chhaava, for which Rahman did the music. Chhaava was one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2025 and found favour with many right-wing Hindu groups, which led to the film being linked to multiple incidents of communal unrest in Maharashtra.   

Rashid didn't bring any of this up but focused on the film's imagery. He said, “You know, my problem with a film like that is that every time a negative act is taking place on screen, and the character is chanting ‘Subhanallah’, ‘Mashallah’, ‘Alhamdulillah’...”

“It's such a cliché, no?” Rahman cut in, dismissing the critique with a wide smile.

When Rashid gently doubled down, Rahman responded with determined positivity. “I have great respect for people, and people are not that foolish to get influenced by false information. I have great faith in humanity,” Rahman said. He also asserted, “I think people are smarter than that. Do you think people are going to be influenced by movies? They have something called an internal conscience which knows what the truth is and what manipulation is.” 

Rahman's defence of Chhaava was spirited. “I think the core of it is the bravery,” he said of the film. He also said, “I'm so honoured to have scored that movie (Chhaava) which is the pulse and the soul of every Maratha person.” 

The interview has since gone viral, but not because of Rahman's valiant efforts to downplay the ideological biases coded into Chhaava or his suggestion that the upcoming film adaptation of Ramayana by Nitesh Tiwari is an example of open-mindedness because its soundtrack will be by Hollywood heavyweight Hans Zimmer and Rahman. “He's Jewish, I'm Muslim, and the Ramayana is Hindu. Great, no? We're giving to humanity,” said Rahman.

In spite of these attempts to whitewash the saffron, Rahman found himself under attack from right-wing trolls. They picked up on a clip from the interview in which Rahman said there has been a change in the Hindi film industry in the past eight years, and cried foul. 

“People who are not creative have the power now to decide things, and this might have been a communal thing also,” Rahman said. Arguably, non-creative people have long been in decision-making roles in most film industries, but when juxtaposed with “communal”, the observation was like waving a red flag to a herd of bulls.  

It's worth pointing out that Rahman also insisted he has never faced any discrimination directly. This is what Rahman said, word for word, about his own experience: “I hear, you know, like Chinese whispers that this happened and they booked you and the other company, the music company went and funded the movie and got their five composers.” 

To call this statement vague is an understatement; there was, however, a clear consensus about what people believed Rahman meant to convey. From actor-director and Lok Sabha member Kangana Ranaut to poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar, across the spectrum of political opinion, everyone agreed that Rahman was talking about anti-Muslim sentiment in the Hindi film industry. Everyone also insisted Rahman was wrong to suggest Bollywood had fallen prey to divisive politics.  

If we're able to glean meaning so easily from Rahman's obscure comment, it's because this stuff of rumours is public knowledge. The Hindu right does exercise a fair degree of influence in the Hindi film industry. Not only have moviegoers noticed the changing tenor of popular Hindi cinema, but it's also been the subject of articles in foreign and local publications.  

Most of these articles may feel high on anxiety and low on specifics, but bear in mind that reporting on the Indian film industry is riddled with difficulties. PR teams fiercely guard access to talent. Questions are vetted, and time with interviewees is both limited and monitored. Self-censorship is rife, and very few will go on record with honest opinions. The reaction to the clip from Rahman's interview is unlikely to improve matters. Rahman was roundly criticised and viciously attacked for that clip. Only a handful of celebrities spoke up in his defence. Who in their right mind wants to risk attracting the ire of a troll army?

The sense of despair deepened further when Rahman felt it necessary to respond. He put up a video on Instagram in which he said, “India is my inspiration, my teacher and my home. I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood, but my purpose has always been to uplift, honour and serve through music. I have never wished to cause pain, and I hope my sincerity is felt. I feel blessed to be Indian, which enables [me] to create a space which always allows freedom of expression and celebrates multicultural voices.” 

Alongside these words was the imagery. The video began with a smiling Rahman looking into the camera and then went on to show footage from Rahman's many recent projects. A group of women holding trishuls appeared. Then there were photos of Rahman with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. After a few shots of women musicians, the title card for the upcoming film Ramayana appeared, listing Rahman and Hollywood heavyweight Hans Zimmer. The video ended with visuals of an entire stadium singing “Vande Mataram” from Rahman's composition, “Maa Tujhe Salaam”. No doubt it's a complete coincidence that “Vande Mataram” is the preferred slogan of the Hindu right wing. 

The images in Rahman’s video subtly establish an important point: the right wing is the power centre today. It informs the dominant narrative while the progressives are relegated to details and fringe elements.

Superficially, the visuals convey the message that, whether you're liberal or not, Rahman has a project that aligns with your agenda. However, the shots of largely unknown women musicians and singers whom Rahman has backed and his “multicultural virtual band” Secret Mountain struggle to stand out in the mélange. This is not surprising since this video was made to pacify right-wing trolls, who are no longer shadowy creatures whose influence is limited to virtual reality. In a time when more and more people feel insignificant and powerless, trolling allows people to feel part of something that can make an impact. Briefly, it makes one feel powerful. Additionally, trolls who are aligned with the right wing feel like they can impact the real world because their politics are aligned with those in power.  

Historically, Hindi cinema has carefully navigated a path between pandering to populist sentiments, keeping the establishment happy, and creative freedom. State campaigns have often been supported through movies. Still, the state has also been ridiculed through portrayals of characters like inept policemen and corrupt politicians, who were depicted as either caricaturish or villainous. Vintage Hindi cinema glorified the working-class hero and took potshots at the establishment, but from a safe creative distance. 

Bollywood’s fortunes have always depended on correctly gauging what the audience wants and the dreams the public isn't even articulating to itself. If Hindi cinema felt brave and progressive in the past, it was because those values were respected and aspirational. Today, it's the opposite. This is not just because of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dominating Indian politics and the right wing's calculated attempts to control cultural discourse, but because audiences seem to be putting their money behind Hindutva-flavoured entertainment. 

The Hindi film industry has been struggling to retain its audience for the better part of the past decade. After being the most popular of India's film industries, Bollywood found itself beset with competition. Telugu mainstream cinema crept up on Hindi movie audiences. By 2022, Time reported that Telugu movies accounted for 29 percent of total box office takings in the Indian market, while Bollywood accounted for 27 percent. Streaming platforms also pulled audiences away from theatres. Then came COVID-19, which hit film industries around the world hard, and for Hindi cinema, it was a particularly brutal blow. The industry hasn't been able to get back on its feet since then, and every big flop has raised anxieties while lowering morale. 

To expect a flailing industry to become an axis of resistance is unreasonable. After all, where is popular cinema supposed to draw its sense of worth from when its popularity seems to be in question? With audiences turning away from most of its offerings, the Hindi film industry needs proximity to power to prop itself up. Idealists will argue that Bollywood would serve itself better by focusing on improving its storytelling. Still, it's a difficult argument to make when good films like Laapataa Ladies and Ikkis failed to recoup their costs during their theatrical runs. The bottom line is that the Hindi film industry will be as progressive as it thinks its audiences will allow.  

Of late, the failures have come fast and hard for Bollywood, and its lifeline has been tentpole films coded with regressive values or Hindutva-tinted politics, like Animal, Chhaava and Dhurandhar. Of course, it's not enough for the film to adhere to conservatism. Just ask the makers of The Kerala Story, which flopped miserably at the box office (but won two National Awards, for direction and cinematography). However, recent box-office trends suggest that jingoism sells, and macho posturing is striking a chord with audiences. Helpfully, both these elements align with what the current Indian government would like to see from Bollywood. 

Between the 1990s and 2010s, mainstream Hindi cinema had a golden run, making space for stories that defied formulae. However, while it has a long tradition of quiet and subtle dissent, Bollywood is no Shangri-La of inclusivity. For decades, Muslim actors had to use Hindu stage names. Everyone points to the ascent of the three Khans (Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh), but in the present, the current crop of actors is dominated by north-Indian, upper-caste names. Women in the industry have faced a maze of obstacles, which included everything from sexual harassment to glass ceilings and no usable toilets. Queerness is invariably either the butt of caricature or milked for tragedy on screen, and we're yet to see a leading actor come out.  

Bollywood’s strength used to be that it told stories that resonated with a vast majority of India’s population, despite its diversity and differences. The question that the antics of the right-wing troll army raise is whether this is really the persona that India’s people want to adopt as their identity. 

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