Films, politics, propaganda: Andhra Pradesh’s tryst with elections

Blurring the line between films and politics

Andhra Pradesh has a long history of tinsel town and politics feeding off each other. Movies loaded with political messages are often used as tools to influence voters ahead of the elections. With simultaneous polls to the assembly and Lok Sabha round the corner, a string of movies with competing narratives are vying for public attention to inject specific political ideologies into the voters’ psyche.

Foremost among them is Vyooham (Strategy), the first of a two-part movie presenting a glorified account of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) supremo and chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s political journey, which shows his rivals, particularly the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, as villains.

Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, Vyooham is a hagiographic political thriller with an unvarnished political agenda. After facing legal hurdles, with the Telangana High Court temporarily suspending its release, the movie finally hit the screens on 24 February. The out-and-out propaganda film focuses on the political situation that prevailed in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s sudden death in a helicopter crash in September 2009.

Projecting YSR’s son Jagan as an innocent victim of devious political ploys, the film portrays how the young MP from Kadapa overcomes all adversities and obstacles created by his political rivals to emerge unscathed as a popular leader who wins the hearts of the masses.

The TDP, which moved the court, alleged that the movie was defamatory to the party and its leaders, and also portrayed Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, in a poor light. Shot back-to-back, both Vyooham and its sequel Shapatham (Pledge)—which released on 1 March—are being widely promoted by the ruling party supporters on social media platforms.

Another movie that glorifies the ruling party leadership is Yatra 2, featuring Malayalam superstar Mammootty. This is the story of YSR’s 900-mile padyatra across Andhra in 2003 that propelled him to power in the 2004 assembly elections. Yatra 2 was released on 8 February.

Raajadhani Files, on the other hand, highlights the failure of the YSRCP government to build the capital city as envisioned by the previous TDP regime. Its release was temporarily halted by a high court order after a Guntur district YSRCP leader, Lella Appi Reddy, challenged it. It was eventually released on 16 February.

The film showcases the struggle of those farmers of the Vijayawada–Guntur region who had voluntarily given their lands for building Amaravati, the brainchild of Chandrababu Naidu. The farmers have been on a warpath against the present dispensation for abandoning the Amaravati project.