Hindutva boycott of Hindi cinema

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In recent years in India, several boycotts have been organized by advocates of Hindutva against Hindi-language films. Some of the boycotters are using the pejorative neologism "Urduwood" to characterise the Hindi-language Bollywood film industry as a Muslim-dominated, anti-Hindu industry, which would favour Urdu language over Hindi.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

History

Bollywood has historically had many Muslims involved in the production of its movies, with some of the most popular film stars being Muslim, especially the Khans of Bollywood and many of the lyricists and songwriters infusing Urdu into the scripts;[7][8] Urdu, which is heavily influenced by Middle Eastern languages such as Persian and Arabic, is generally associated with Muslims (see Hindi-Urdu controversy).[9] Allegations about Bollywood portraying Hindus and Hinduism in negative light in the name of secularism in films like PK (2014) have emerged following the victory of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014.[10]

Names

Along with "Urduwood", related terms that are used are "Khanwood" (referring to the prominence in Bollywood of actors with the common South Asian Muslim last name Khan), "Jihadwood", and "Dawood-wood".[2][11][5]

Boycotts

Accusations of Bollywood films hurting Hindu sentiments have prompted calls for boycotts against several major films in recent years, using the hashtag #BoycottBollywood;[12][13][14] However, some boycotts also happen to be politically motivated, as in the case of Chhapaak (2020), a film about an acid-attack survivor which received calls of boycott due to the lead actress Deepika Padukone expressing support to SFI member & JNUSU head Aishe Ghosh after she was physically assaulted by male ABVP cadres at JNU during Citizenship Amendment Act protests.[15] Bollywood producers have said that the threat of boycotts has led them to avoid portrayal of certain topics in their films like interfaith romances involving Muslims (viewed negatively by Hindu nationalists) .[16] In addition, there have been more recent films which cater to Hindutva propaganda.[17] However, some films like Pathaan (2023) have been able to succeed regardless of the boycotts,[18] and there seems to have been an overall limited impact on boycotted movies' revenues.[14]

Some boycotters have called for South Indian cinema to be promoted instead, claiming that it was more respectful in representing Hindu culture,[19][1][20][21] however some South Indian films like Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food (2023) and L2: Empuraan (2025) were also boycotted by them.[22][23]

See also

Events

Film topics

Religious and linguistic topics

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bollywood under siege as rightwing social media boycotts start to bite. The Guardian(2022-09-30). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Why right wing hates Bollywood. The Week. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  3. ↑ Hindutva Protesters Stop Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor From Entering MP Temple. The Wire. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  4. ↑ Bollywood pasa a ser conocido como Urduwood - decine21.com, decine21.com. Decine21(2022-10-04). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Is the Hindu Nationalist 'Boycott Bollywood' Campaign Impacting the Box Office?. thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  6. ↑ Dissecting the language of Baahubali trolls: 'Hindu film', 'Urduwood', 'Chrislamist critic'. Firstpost(2017-05-05). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  7. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  8. ↑ Bollywood Is a Major Target for Right Wing Groups Looking for Signs of 'Hinduphobia'. The Wire. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  9. ↑ The siege of Bollywood. The Economist. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  10. ↑ Why is Bollywood film PK controversial?. BBC News(2014-12-26). Retrieved 2025-12-16.
  11. ↑ The Bollywood saga: Social media ruining the relation. The Times of India. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  12. ↑ The Booming 'Boycott Bollywood' Trend: Who Are the Players Behind It?, Mallick, Kritika, Abhilash. TheQuint(2022-10-07). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  13. ↑ Decoding the #BoycottBollywood trend. cnbctv18.com(2023-01-06). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Something is rotten: Understanding the Bollywood boycott phenomenon, P, Jinoy Jose. Frontline(2022-09-22). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  15. ↑ BJP calls for boycott of 'Chhapaak' following Deepika Padukone's visit to JNU; opposition stands in support of actress. mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
  16. ↑ Why 2022 was the year of #BoycottBollywood, Goyal, Prateek. Newslaundry(2022-12-28). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  17. ↑ How Bollywood's silence proved convenient for India's Right Wing. South Asian Today. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  18. ↑ Pathaan and the king of cinema blast Bollywood out of the doldrums. The Guardian(2023-02-04). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  19. ↑ Will #BoycottPathaan impact SRK's film?, Manga, Dhiren. DESIblitz(2022-12-13). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  20. ↑ Explained: The #BoycottBollywood trend, and its impact on the industry. The Indian Express(2022-08-27). Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  21. ↑ Bollywood's problem is not boycotts, it is the quality. Or lack of it. WION(3 September 2022). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  22. ↑ Netflix pulls Indian film after backlash from rightwing Hindu groups. The Guardian(2024-01-12). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  23. ↑ Adipurush row: Mob protests at mall in Maha's Palghar, asks people to boycott screening. The Indian Express(2023-06-19). Retrieved 2024-01-26.

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