Bollywood’s latest film pushes anti-Muslim narrative

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A forthcoming Hindi film based on communal violence in northern India has intensified scrutiny of Bollywood’s role in reinforcing anti-Muslim narratives, as critics say the production recasts real riots through a distinctly majoritarian ideological lens.

Kalki Sambhal is based on riots that shook the town of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh in 1978 and again in 2024. The film positions Muslims not as victims of communal violence but as its principal architects, portraying them as political conspirators and instigators — a framing that mirrors a broader pattern in Indian cinema since the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in 2014.

The film’s first poster, released on Monday evening, depicts two central villains named “Abbajaan” and “Bhaijaan.” The character “Abbajaan” is widely understood to allude to the late parliamentarian Shafiqur Rahman Burq, who is portrayed as having incited violence during the 1978 riots for political gain. 

Social media commentators and political observers have also speculated that “Bhaijaan” represents his son Ziaur Rahman Burq, a current opposition lawmaker from the Samajwadi Party, depicted in the film as the force behind the 2024 violence.

The 2024 unrest in Sambhal resulted in the deaths of five Muslim youths, allegedly due to police firing — a detail critics say is sidelined in the film’s narrative, which instead shifts focus toward Muslim political culpability while muting questions around state violence and policing.

Veteran actor Mahesh Manjrekar plays the role of the senior Burq, while Vijay Raaz portrays junior Burq “Bhaijaan.” The character representing Sambhal’s Superintendent of Police, Krishna Vishnoi, appears in the film under the name Arjun Bishnoi, reinforcing what observers describe as a moral binary in which state authority is cast as corrective and justified.

The film is produced by Amit Jani, a figure long associated with controversial, openly anti-Muslim cinematic projects. Jani previously produced Udaipur Files, a film that triggered widespread objections from Muslim organizations and civil society groups. Although a petition was filed seeking to block its release, the court declined to intervene; the film ultimately reached cinemas only after several contentious scenes were removed.

Rights advocates and media analysts argue that Kalki Sambhal fits into a longer trajectory of Hindi cinema that has normalized negative Muslim stereotypes. Earlier films such as Fanaa (2006), Kurbaan (2009), and New York (2009) portrayed Muslim characters through lenses of suspicion, radicalization, or moral ambiguity, contributing to a cultural narrative that increasingly equates Muslim identity with violence.

In the past decade, this trend has taken a more overtly political turn. Films such as The Kashmir Files (2022), The Kerala Story (2023), and Dhurandhar (2025) have generated controversy for embedding Islamophobic tropes within stories presented as historical or social truth. Analysts say these productions blur the boundary between cinema and propaganda, using selective storytelling and emotional amplification to reinforce majoritarian anxieties.