[ComradePhil]

Sounds like you have watched too much bollywood. Talk to one of your relatives or friends of friends who's in the police force and come back.

For those who are unaware: one of the forces with big political interest in India is the middle east. The middle east runs a shadow government in India; its two arms are bollywood and the Indian mafia (look up D-company[1]). Before the rise of Modi, they used to churn out shitloads of bollywood movies where the mafia is humanized and police and politicians were always the bad guys... which serves as a recruiting tool for the mafia and demonizes the police and the government.

While the Modi government has tried to take action against this, even as of 2018, movie like Sanju[2] was made which is based on the life of a bollywood actor who was charged for his involvement in the 1993 Bombay Bombings[3]... but the movie shows him as a good guy. In real life, the actor has served the mafia with various mafia-protagonist movies such as Munna Bhai MBBS and Vastaav and is one of the Indian superstars who has deep links with the mafia.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Company

[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanju

[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Bombay_bombings

[nd]

It might be helpful to back up your perspective with data, or better frame your argument. As it stands, your comment doesn’t add much to the conversation.

A few things in particular: - Crime is a problem in India. The Wikipedia article has a decent overview (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_India). But so is police and government corruption. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_India) - To call a criminal organization a shadow government is hyperbolic. Similarly calling the romanticizing of crime — a common entertainment trope — a conspiracy, seems a bit much. - The actor you use as an example was convicted for acquiring weapons from people involved with the Bombay Bombings. He was never accused of being involved in the bombings himself (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Dutt). I’m not sure I follow the accusation of serving the mafia by acting as a criminal in a movie.

[ComradePhil]

> Crime is a problem in India.

Yes, primarily by the mafia and drug cartels, run by the middle east.

> But so is police and government corruption.

One of the reasons (among others) is the mafia which corrupts the police.

> To call a criminal organization a shadow government is hyperbolic.

What does that even mean? The Indian mafia has been killing businessmen, politicians and police... and uses threats, violence and bribes to run things their way in goverment and the police force. That is exactly what shadow government is.

> He was never accused of being involved in the bombings himself

I will let BBC do the talking here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-21873316

> I’m not sure I follow the accusation of serving the mafia by acting as a criminal in a movie.

State sponsored propaganda in foreign nations is not easy to grasp for the simple-minded.

[1sembiyan]

I almost never watch Bollywood. Some of the reasons why I hold the opinions I do can be explained partly by the references listed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31795739

[ComradePhil]

You do realize that you say that you are not influenced by Bollywood movies but the comment you refer to here references Bollywood movies as sources, right?

[1sembiyan]

I refer to Tamil and Malayalam movies, not Bollywood (and these are only one among many sources I mention). Like I said, Tamil movies have been exploring criminal-politician-state nexus for a few decades now, although that doesn’t stop the Tamils from electing famously authoritarian governments themselves.

I don’t buy the argument that mafia or middle eastern emigre have influenced these potrayals in Tamil cinema since the 70s and 80s. It’s the local politics that did. Maybe there’s merit to the argument about Hindi films (I don’t know), but not Tamil.

You couldn’t be more mistaken if you confuse the South Indian film industry (then centered around Madras/Chennai) with the Hindi film industry (Bollywood, centered in Bombay/Mumbai).