Rethinking Bollywood Fandom

Fandom in Bollywood is its own little intense universe. I grew up listening to stories when Dev Anand was banned from wearing black suits because women would faint in delight. Film stars in India have not only enjoyed fanatical followings, they have also influenced socio-cultural change. For example, Deepika Padukone started a crucial discussion on mental health that led to prolific conversations around depression in the Indian culture. And Kangana Ranaut brought the problems of nepotism to the fore. When celebrities have the power to shift mass consciousness, one cannot help but wonder how does in fandom shift in a politically polarized national culture. 

Women in Bollywood like Kangana Ranaut positively influenced my feminist consciousness. She exuded important feminist lessons for me: claiming value for my labor, calling out sexism at the workplace, and reporting sexual assault without feeling shame. But her recent severe shift to right-wing political ideology was a shocker. I wrote about it previously, and so did others. I could not fathom why a woman who once spearheaded feminist consciousness in Bollywood would now turn against her practices. What was she gaining out of it? Well, the recent Padma Shri award was an answer. Moreover, when celebrities brandish their right-wing weaponry, their fans are bound to be politically polarized too. Tapsee Pannu, Swara Bhaskar were hated while Ranaut was the bastion of Hindutva. Witnessing this was a struggle because when Ranaut started supporting right-wing political ideology, she stopped being a feminist for me. She became the enforcer and the beneficiary of patriarchy. I started questioning her struggles as a woman and I was not happy with that. I started to believe that political stances can alienate fans from the celebrities they adore. 

In such a case, it became crucial to identify with men who would fit the feminist consciousness better and redirect our Bollywood fandom. I did so too. I was identifying better with one male celebrity than women like Ranaut. I was pleasantly surprised to find men like Anurag Kashyap leading the new wave of resistance. 

I am not undermining Ranaut’s struggle as a woman. Neither I am claiming that Anurag Kashyap is a feminist. But his political stance brings him closer to the vision of equal gender rights, the tenet of feminism. The dominant Indian culture struggles to achieve a dominant feminist consciousness, especially in popular culture. And we know how popular culture can influence mass sensibilities. Thus, it is time to acknowledge Bollywood men like Anurag Kashyap for their efforts, which furthers the cause of feminist ethics. 

Kashyap with other celebrities like Anubhav Sinha, Vishal Bhardwaj, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Ali Fazal (to name a few) took to the streets to protest state sanctioned violence against students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in India. They were emphatically joined by actresses like Richa Chaddha, Tapsee Pannu, Dia Mirza, and directors like Zoya Akhtar. Kashyap has also been openly critical of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. He could have enjoyed all the benefits by being a politically neutral male celebrity like Shahrukh Khan or Ajay Devgn or so many more. He could have avoided being targeted on various social media platforms by right-wing trolls. Instead, he was, in a way, risking his global popularity by joining student protests against the Indian government. His films support his ideologies well too. We find strong socio-political critique in his reel and real narratives. Kashyap and more like him are a call for a fandom reorientation. We must look for the kind of men who are more fit to lead the mass consciousness in the right direction and towards a gender sensitive Indian culture. We should give up on Savarna women who no longer propagate the lessons of later waves of feminism. Kashyap brings in class, caste, and religious factors to critique socio-political injustice, aiding the discourse of later waves and Indian feminism. Being a rich and popular man, Kashyap’s gender has obvious privileges over me. However, his well-informed critique of the ruling right-wing Indian government brings him a lot closer to women like me than Ranaut. 

Today, right-wing governments, be it in India or America are voraciously suppressing minority and women's rights. Sexist slurs fill the social media landscape directed against women who are not Modi or Trump supporters. Rape threats are thrown at women who dare to speak their mind and do not align with the right-wing rhetoric. Indian masculinity has been galvanized by saffronization and is sadly not restricted to men only. Women like Ranaut are toxic masculinized women undoing decades of feminist work that our ancestors did. Today, when I see black Americans, Dalits, migrant laborers, and Muslims being victims of violence prolifically, I think it is time to reorient our celebrity fandom. It is time to value labor, but only those that are dedicated to justice for all.

About the Writer:

Ankita Rathour, a Bihari based in Louisiana, United State, is a PhD Scholar. Her research area is Global Film, Literature, and Gender Studies.