Dharmaveer 2: Glorifying Eknath Shinde

From
start
to
finish,

Dharmaveer
2
feels
less
like
a
biopic
and
more
like
propaganda
crafted
for
Eknath
Shinde’s
political
gain,
observes
Prasanna
D
Zore.

Watching

Dharmaveer
2:
Mukkam
Post
Thane
was
a
confusing
experience.
Not
because
of
its
subject
matter
but
because
of
its
glaring
attempt
to
glorify
Chief
Minister
Eknath
Shinde
as
the
‘true
heir’
to
the
late
firebrand
Shiv
Sena
leader
Anand
Dighe
and
his
street-smart
Hindutva
learned
by
him
under
the
tutelage
of
Shiv
Sena
supremo
Bal
Thackeray.

From
start
to
finish,
the
film
feels
less
like
a
biopic
and
more
like
propaganda
crafted
for
Shinde’s
political
gain.

The
elections
to
the
Maharashtra
assembly
are
due
in
November
and
this
film
seems
like
an
attempt
to
whitewash
the
incumbent
chief
minister
of
the
‘Gaddar‘
(traitor)
tag
levelled
by
the
Shiv
Sena
(Uddhav
Thackeray).

It
is
an
attempt
to
earn
cinema-goers’
empathy
—
and
votes
—
by
justifying
Shinde
joining
hands
with
the
BJP
and
splitting
the
Shiv
Sena
after
June
21,
2022,
when
he
along
with
a
dozen
Shiv
Sena
MLAs
vamoosed
to
Surat
and
later
formed
a
government
in
Maharashtra
by
highlighting
how
Uddhav
Thackeray
and
his
Shiv
Sena
—
by
joining
hands
with
the
Congress
and
Sharad
Pawar’s
NCP
—
diluted
his
father
and
Shiv
Sena
founder
the
late
Bal
Thackeray’s
brand
of

jwalant
(firebrand)
Hindutva,

I
spoke
to
a
few
out
of
the
17
to
18
people
who
had
come
to
watch
the
Marathi
film
in
a
Mumbai
multiplex
for
a
9:45
am
show,
and
most
of
them
did
not
speak
Marathi
though
they
said
they
understood
the
language.

They
did
not
know
anything
about
Anand
Dighe,
but
had
come
to
watch
the
film
‘to
support
Eknath
Shinde’s
rebellion
against
Uddhav
Thackeray
for
joining
hands
with
the
Congress.’

“Shindesaheb
ne
bohot
achcha
kiya
aise
logon
ka
saath
chhodke
(Eknath
Shinde
is
justified
in
ditching
Uddhav
Thackeray
for
joining
hands
with
non-Hindutvawadi
parties),”
said
a
non-Maharashtrian
couple
in
their
40s,
who
had
come
to
watch
the
film
with
their
teenager
son
from
distant
Dahisar
in
north
Mumbai.

Instead
of
providing
a
nuanced
portrayal
of
Anand
Dighe’s
life,
contributions
and
complexities,
the
film
pushes
an
agenda,
forcing
the
audience
to
swallow
the
narrative
that
Shinde
is
the
legitimate
torchbearer
of
Dighe’s
Hindutva
ideology.

As
a
film,
one
of
the
most
glaring
issues
with

Dharmaveer
2
is
its
bye-bye
to
nuance.
The
movie
practically
yells
from
the
rooftop
that
Shinde
is
Dighe’s
true
political
successor,
a
comparison
that
feels
forced
and
exaggerated.

Where
Bal
Thackeray
and
Anand
Dighe
emerged
naturally
as
fierce
protectors
of
Hindutva
—
Bal
Thackeray
through
his
fiery
oratory
and
Dighe
through
his
raw,
grassroots
political
style
—
the
film
tries
too
hard
to
draw
a
parallel
between
the
two
leaders
and
Shinde.

Sometimes,
you
get
a
feeling
that
Director
Pravin
Tarde’s
cinematic
adventure
attempts
to
create
a
parallel
between
Dighe
and
the
Sena
supremo.

The
attempt
to
position
Shinde
as
a
‘Dharmaveer’
in
his
own
right
feels
contrived,
as
though
the
film-makers
were
less
concerned
with
telling
a
compelling
story
and
more
interested
in
propping
up
Dighe
as
a
larger-than-life
persona,
who
could
match
the
heft
and
charisma
of
Bal
Thackeray,
and
Shinde’s
political
persona
ahead
of
thecoming
assembly
elections.

Dighe
was
a
strongman
in
his
own
right
in
Thane,
but
his
influence
undeniably
came
because
of
his
loyalty
to
Bal
Thackeray.

Dharmaveer
2
briefly
touches
on
how
Dighe
was
deeply
affected
by
the
suicide
of
a
Class
1o
student
in
Thane.
This
incident
moved
Dighe
to
initiate
practice
exams
for
students
appearing
for
their
board
exams,
a
compassionate
and
community-driven
initiative.

In
another
scene
—
which
seems
contrived
and
wants
to
prove
Dighe’s
street-smart
secularism
—
he
is
shown
to
celebrate
Raksha
Bandhan
publicly
and
asks
a
Muslim
lady
in
a

burqa
to
lift
her
veil
and
only
then
tie
a

rakhi
on
his
hand.

She
reluctantly
lifts
her

burqa
only
to
reveal
her
swollen,
red
eye.
It
turns
out
that
her
drunkard
husband
had
beaten
her
up
and
had
threatened
her
with
triple

talaq.
Dighe
rushes
to
her
house
to
teach
her
husband
a
lesson,
daring
him
to
divorce
his
wife
by
saying

talaq,
talaq,
talaq.

A
few
moments
before
this
scene,
a
bunch
of
Shinde
loyalists
—
Dada
Bhuse,
Sanjay
Shirsat,
Bharatsheth
Gogawale,
Shahaji
Bapu
Patil
and
Tanaji
Sawant
—
are
shown
singing
praises
to
Narendra
Modi
and
his
government’s
move
to
abolish
the
oppressive
practice
of
triple

talaq.

Yet
another
sore
point
is
the
overuse
of
a
stereotypical
Muslim
character,
always
sporting
his
fez
cap,
amid
a
sea
of
Dighe
supporters,
who
readily
expresses
his
willingness
to
sacrifice
his
life
and
limb
for
Dighe.

‘Shiv
Senecha
sachcha
Mussalman
aahe
mi
(I
am
a
true
Muslim
who
supports
the
Shiv
Sena),’
he
affirms,
indicating
to
Muslim
voters
who
their
real
protector
is,
and
so,
where
their
loyalty
should
lie.

This
overuse
only
makes
you
circumspect
about
the
film-maker’s
intent
to
tell
the
Muslim
voter
that
Dighe
as
well
as
Shinde
care
as
much
for
those
‘sachcha
Musslaman‘
as
Bal
Thackeray
once
did
—
and
he
was
quite
vocal
about
it
—
and
if
push
comes
to
shove
in
this
polarised
atmosphere,
Shinde
and
his
government
will
always
be
there
to
protect
them.

But
moments
like
these
are
few
and
far
between
in
the
film,
as
the
script
quickly
pivots
back
to
showing
Dighe
as
an
unyielding
enforcer
of
Hindutva,
perpetually
using
aggression
and
violence
to
solve
problems.

It’s
a
disservice
to
Dighe’s
legacy,
reducing
his
multifaceted
personality
to
little
more
than
a
caricature.

As
for
Eknath
Shinde,
his
portrayal
feels
out
of
place
and
overstated.

The
film
bends
over
backward
to
depict
him
as
Dighe’s
most
loyal
and
capable
follower,
the
chosen
one
who
will
carry
forward
Dighe’s
mission
of
Hindutva.

There’s
an
unmistakable
sense
that
Shinde
is
using

Dharmaveer
2
as
a
platform
to
further
his
political
career,
leveraging
Dighe’s
larger-than-life
image
to
bolster
his
own
credentials.

Where
Dighe
had
an
organic,
grassroots
connection
with
the
people
of
Thane,
cultivated
through
years
of
hands-on
leadership,
toiling
with
and
fighting
alongside
the
ordinary
Shiv
Sainik,
Shinde’s
rise
feels
far
more
engineered,
and
the
film
does
little
to
hide
that.

The
movie’s
attempt
to
link
Bal
Thackeray
and
Anand
Dighe
as
twin
pillars
of
the
Shiv
Sena’s
Hindutva
is
also
problematic.

While
Bal
Thackeray
was
undeniably
the
ideological
and
unapologetic
architect
and
practitioner
of
the
Shiv
Sena’s
firebrand
Hindutva,
Dighe’s
role
was
far
more
localised,
centred
around
Thane.

By
positioning
Dighe
as
an
equal
to
Thackeray,
the
film
overstretches
the
scope
of
Dighe’s
influence,
ignoring
the
broader,
more
complex
nature
of
the
Shiv
Sena’s
grassroots
politics.
And
by
extension,
the
film
balloons
Shinde’s
role
within
this
narrative,
as
though
inheriting
Dighe’s
legacy
automatically
places
him
on
par
with
the
Thackeray
family
in
terms
of
political
clout
and
influence.

Dharmaveer
2
is
a
missed
opportunity.

Rather
than
offering
a
nuanced
portrait
of
Anand
Dighe,
his
life
and
times,
it
devolves
into
a
one-dimensional
celebration
of
Hindutva
politics
and
an
unabashed
endorsement
of
Eknath
Shinde.