A new Bollywood thriller explores the dark underbelly of India’s regional politics just as the country gears up for general elections in April and May. ‘Gulaal’, directed by Anurag Kashyap, opened in Indian cinemas on Friday as poll campaigning kicked off for a massive electoral exercise that would enable more than 714 million people to vote.
Kashyap said he first thought of making the film during a trip to Rajasthan. “I saw so much of caste politics and regionalism and the film is a result of those travels,” the 36-year-old filmmaker said.
“We need a huge change if we are going to do something about our democratic process.” Lead actor Raj Singh Chaudhary said ‘Gulal’ questions the concept of democracy in India. “We are proud of our democratic process, but we need to ask ourselves whether democracy is really alive in our country,” he said.