Bollywood has captured the essence of India’s youth activism and student protests, from fighting corruption in Yuvaa to demanding accountability in Rang De Basanti.
Key Points
- Movies like Yuvaa and Rang De Basanti highlight student leaders fighting corruption and demanding accountability from the government.
- Raanjhanaa and Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi explore student politics against backdrops of unrequited love and historical events like the Emergency.
- Films such as Hurdang and Bhavesh Joshi Superhero draw inspiration from real-life protests like the Mandal Commission agitation and anti-corruption rallies.
Whoever said youth is wasted on the young has not seen India’s Gen Z in action.
It’s all everyone is talking about ever since student protests broke out against the government over paper leaks compelling the latter to eat a humble pie and concede to their demands.
Student politics is rarely touched upon in Bollywood but scenes of young and restless protesting on silver screen do exist even if too few and far between. Sukanya Verma reminds us of 10 such instances.
Yuvaa
Mani Ratnam’s take on India’s youth taking charge and fighting corrupt netas finds an embodiment in Ajay Devgn’s student leader and Vivek Oberoi’s American dream rejecting desi as the twain become poster boys of revolution.
Retaliation disguised as protest is what happens Devgn and his army of followers storm into a politically backed goon’s home after their comrade is beaten up.
What’s interesting is they don’t wait for the cops to put them behind bars instead admitting to the disruption and a request to take them in.
Raanjhanaa
A toxic tale of unrequited love set against the backdrop of student politics, Raanjhanaa commits itself to spirited scenes of young angst against A R Rahman’s rousing music.
As the leader of the pack standing up to the regime’s control, Abhay Deol and his partner-in-crime Sonam Kapoor try to do all kinds of damage.
It’s the foundation to their attraction as well as the complexities that follow when the revolution’s subsequent face: Dhanush enters the picture.
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi
Sudhir Mishra’s masterful commentary is rooted in the Emergency, a crucial time in Indian history seen through the prism of young men and women in college.
Sitting on protest grounds, experiencing the influence of stirring speeches sets the stage for Kay Kay Menon and Chitrangda Singh’s involvement in a Naxal movement, forever altering the course of their lives, in the splendidly layered political drama.
Rang De Basanti
Rang De Basanti‘s strong belief in ‘Koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota, usse behtar banana padta hai‘ begins after a bunch of carefree youngsters are compelled to sober up and demand accountability from a corrupt government.
When a peaceful candle march by a large crowd of demonstrators at Delhi’s India Gate is met with A violent lathi charge by the police, rebellion takes a bloody and dangerous face in the tradition of history’s fearless heroes like Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
Hurdang
The Mandal Commission student protests against caste based job reservation that created headlines in 1990 form the basis of Sunny Kaushal and Vijay Verma’s political spectacle, ensuing in scenes of angry ‘pradarshans’ and self-immolation, in Hurdang.
Bhavesh Joshi Superhero
Vikramaditya Motwane’s self-styled vigilante superhero drama gets its emotional heft from the deep friendship between its three leads played by Harshvardhan Kapoor, Priyanshu Painyuli and Ashish Verma.
And pray, where do they first meet? At an anti-corruption rally in 2011 paving the way for their justice-seeking pursuits.
Akira
In the Hindi remake of Tamil hit Mouna Guru, college students come together to stand up against police brutality after one of their professors is assaulted, only to be chased away with tear gas, batons… you know the drill.
The only one to not leave the site is a badass Sonakshi Sinha in and as Akira, a she-Hulk refusing to bow down before any form of injustice.
Main Azaad Hoon
Amitabh Bachchan’s reluctant vigilante, inspires a revolution among the common men at the cost of his life in Tinnu Anand’s remake of Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe.
The film is pretty much a protest in motion but we catch its first glimpse when the Big B comes across a pack of student demonstrators holding placards that read, ‘This government is an enemy of students’ and ‘Long live student unity’.
Sounds familiar?
Jawani Diwani
Before AB’s angry young man arrived on the scene, ’70s’ flower power focused on romance and rock ‘n’ roll.
The puppy love between Jawani Diwani’s college goers Randhir Kapoor and Jaya Bhaduri faced parental opposition so strong, the entire campus came in their support following the hero’s wrongful suspension.
Only in boomer-era Bollywood will you find college principals encounter protests for reasons as trivial as this.
Half Ticket
Trust the funniest man in showbusiness to unite the youth for a good cause in a super witty fashion.
In the rib-tickling black and white classic, Kishore Kumar uses his born-with-a-silver-spoon-privilege by campaigning for his not-so-well-off classmate’s fee and creating an atmosphere of rebellion outside his college with trademark repartee and expression.
Satyagraha done the Kishoreda way!
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
