After a 23-year ban enforced by militants, Bollywood movies made a return to the tense state of Manipur. As part of the 77th Independence Day celebrations, the Hmar Students’ Association (HSA), a Kuki-Zo tribal students’ group, defiantly screened “Uri: The Surgical Strike” and planned to showcase “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” in Rengkai, Churachandpur’s hill district. The event marked the revival of Hindi film screenings in the region since the late 1990s.
The HSA’s decision to show Bollywood films was a statement against the ban on Hindi movies. They emphasized the importance of access to diverse arts and movies produced across India. The ban had been enforced due to concerns that Hindi films negatively impacted Meitei/Manipuri culture. Despite the state government’s continued support for the ban, the HSA chose to challenge it.
Churachandpur, which had once hosted theater halls, saw their closure due to the ban. Similarly, several theaters in the Meitei-majority Imphal valley faced shutdowns. The student leader of HSA highlighted the local love for Bollywood films.
The insurgent group Revolutionary Peoples Front, in 2000, prohibited Hindi films, particularly Bollywood movies, alleging their adverse effect on Manipuri culture, language, and the local film industry. This stance was rooted in the belief that Bollywood contradicted Manipuri values. The group even confiscated and destroyed numerous video cassettes and music to protest the supposed “Indianisation” of Manipur, leading to the decline of the movie theater scene in the state. The ban had far-reaching consequences, even preventing the screening of a biopic on renowned boxer MC Mary Kom in the state of her birth, Manipur. Priyanka Chopra portrayed the boxer’s character in the film.
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