On Friday, May 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the much-discussed film “The Kerala Story” which was released today. The film is based on the true stories of thousands of girls from Kerala who were converted to Islam and sent to Syria to become ISIS terrorists and sex slaves. PM Modi spoke about how the film depicts the ugly truth of terrorism and also exposes the terror conspiracies taking place in Kerala.
I am surprised to see that Congress has succumbed to terrorism for the sake of its vote bank. Can such a party ever save Karnataka? In the atmosphere of terror, the industry, IT industry, agriculture, farming and glorious culture here will be destroyed: PM Narendra Modi in… pic.twitter.com/X1A0hPryQj
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
This, however, is not the first time that PM has raised awareness about movies that have put national security in focus.
When PM Modi quoted the popular “How’s the Josh” dialogue from Uri: The Surgical Strike
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the inaugural event of the National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai quoted “How’s the Josh”, a popular dialogue from the film Uri: The Surgical Strike starring actors Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam in the lead roles. The movie was based on the Surgical Strike of 2016, carried out by the Indian armed forces in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK).
#WATCH: PM Modi asks "How's the josh?" at the inauguration of National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/KgcqJoKtYp
— ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2019
PM Modi had also watched the film and appreciated the makers, for the realistic portrayal of the events of the 2016 surgical strike. “He has appreciated the way turn of events have been depicted and showcased well on celluloid right from the attacks on our camps to a surgical strike on PoK,” director Aditya Dhar had said back in 2019.
It is worth recalling that in the early hours of September 29, 2016, the Indian Army carried out unprecedented surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), annihilating at least 7 terror launchpads and inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists sheltered in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The strike came nearly 10 days after the brutal terror attack in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 18 Indian soldiers.
When PM Modi tweeted about the film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect
In the year 2021, Prime Minister Modi met former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and actor Ranganathan Madhavan who played the role of Nambi Narayanan in the film.
PM Modi had said that scientists and technicians have made great sacrifices for the country. He said the film Rocketry covers an important topic that more people must know about.
PM Modi said this while quoting a tweet of film actor R Madhavan who said he was honored to have met the Prime Minister recently along with ex-ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan.
“Happy to have met you and the brilliant Nambi Narayanan Ji. This film covers an important topic, which more people must know about. Our scientists and technicians have made great sacrifices for our country, glimpses of which I could see in the clips of Rocketry.”
Happy to have met you and the brilliant Nambi Narayanan Ji. This film covers an important topic, which more people must know about.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 5, 2021
Our scientists and technicians have made great sacrifices for our country, glimpses of which I could see in the clips of Rocketry. https://t.co/GDopym5rTm
The film was released in July last year, though the film received criticism from liberal media and critics over the portrayal of scientist Nambi Narayanan as a practicing Hindu, the film did receive praise from the general audience.
When PM Modi praised The Kashmir Files
In March last year, PM Modi while speaking at the BJP parliamentary meeting lauded the film ‘The Kashmir Files’. PM Modi asserted that the film was based on facts and also slammed the “ecosystem” which claims to be a torchbearer of freedom of expression but was hell-bent on discrediting a film based on the genocide of Kashmir Hindus.
“Instead of engaging in healthy debates based on facts and truths, this entire ecosystem has launched a full-fledged campaign to discredit the film. An individual has shown the courage to expose the truth, but this ecosystem is hell-bent on shaming his efforts. They also do not want to understand or allow others to do the same. They do not want to accept the truth, nor do they want the truth to be revealed in front of the world. The type of campaign that has been launched against the movie in the last few days is astounding”, PM Modi stated.
PM Modi had also clarified that he does not advocate for any specific film rather he is in favor of presenting facts in their entirety to the world.
The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri along with his wife and actress Pallavi Joshi and film producer Abhishek Agarwal also met PM Modi in Delhi.
“I am so glad for you @AbhishekOfficl you have shown the courage to produce the most challenging truth of Bharat. #TheKashmirFiles screenings in the USA proved the changing mood of the world in the leadership of @narendramodi,” Agnihotri tweeted back then.
I am so glad for you @AbhishekOfficl you have shown the courage to produce the most challenging truth of Bharat. #TheKashmirFiles screenings in USA proved the changing mood of the world in the leadership of @narendramodi https://t.co/uraoaYR9L9
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) March 12, 2022
The film depicted the events of January 19, 1990, when mosques in Kashmir had issued a warning to Kashmiri Hindus while terming them as Kafirs. They had three options, leave Kashmir, convert to Islam, or be killed.
Additionally, PM Modi has lauded actor Akshay Kumar’s film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha for raising awareness about cleanliness and Swacch Bharat Mission.
Good effort to further the message of cleanliness. 125 crore Indians have to continue working together to create a Swachh Bharat. https://t.co/C0XKPpguW7
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 12, 2017
“Good effort to further the message of cleanliness. 125 crore Indians have to continue working together to create a Swachh Bharat,” PM Modi had tweeted in 2017.
The movie focussed on the eradication of open defecation in India with an emphasis on cleanliness. This has been one of the main focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well. “A clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150 birth anniversary in 2019,” said Shri Narendra Modi as he launched the Swachh Bharat Mission at Rajpath in New Delhi. On 2nd October 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission was launched throughout length and breadth of the country as a national movement. The campaign aims to achieve the vision of a ‘Clean India’ by 2nd October 2019.
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is the most significant cleanliness campaign by the Government of India. Shri Narendra Modi led a cleanliness pledge at India Gate, which about thirty lakh government employees across the country joined.
