Bollywood never misses one chance to mock Hindu sentiments and denigrate the most revered Hindu deities. This trend is not limited to any one particular banner or production house. Every filmmaker in Bollywood has taken turns to affront Hindu beliefs. This time, it’s the song Thumkeshwari from the upcoming movie Bhediya.
Maddock Films are producing the Bhediya movie. Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon play the central roles and Shraddha Kapoor does a cameo in the aforementioned song. The film features the item song named Thumkeshwari. As typical in Bollywood item songs, the number shows both the actresses scantily clad and dancing erotically. The male character and the chorus address these ladies as “Thumkeshwari”, and this is where the problem lies.
The word “Thumeshwari” is customized for this item number by conjoining two Hindi words, Thumka and Eshwari. The term Eshwari has a Sanskrit origin, translates to the Supreme Goddess, and mainly refers to the trinity of Devis Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati as a whole or individually.
As a suffix, Eshwari is used to idolize the various forms of the Divine mother like Bhuvaneshwari, Dakshineshwari, Parmeshwari, Tripureshwari, and so on. Using this holy word that holds great significance for Hindus for women engaging in sensuous dance is exceedingly derogatory and offensive on multiple levels.
The song Thumkeshwari has been trending on YouTube and has gathered over 49 million views. There are two kinds of people who are fondly viewing this obnoxious song. The first kind comprises the non-Hindu viewers of Bollywood from India, and other parts of South Asia and the middle-east where Hindi movies have a broad market. Then we have the ilk of HINOs (Hindus In Name Only). This population has Hindu names but is unaware of Hindu scriptures, values, and traditions or doesn’t care for them. The anti-Hindu industry is capitalizing on these two groups of viewers.
This is not the first time; Bollywood has tried to slight the honour of Hindu Devis in their cheap and obnoxious songs. We all remember the audacity Karan Johar showcased by making a song named “Sexy Radha” for his 2012 film Student of the Year. The objectionable word had received massive flak from Hindu organizations, and the filmmaker was compelled to change the song’s lyrics.
Back in 2012, Hindus were not that conscious of their religious rights; they were less attentive to the attacks on their religious sentiments. Yet, Johar was made to concede and change the song’s lyrics. There has been a tremendous awakening among the Hindus in the past decade. This awakening picked momentum after the Modi-led BJP started to expand its political reach. Bollywood has been called out multiple times and repeatedly for its anti-Hindu narratives and insensitive insinuations made about Hindu deities and beliefs.
Hindu awakening has dented Bollywood with ‘stars’ like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, who used to call the shots in the industry, now craving success. Big-budget movies like Rakshabandhan are failing at the box office after people associated with these projects were exposed as anti-Hindu. The writing is on the wall for the industry. Hindus have sent a clear message that they will not tolerate the sacrilegious statement made against their beliefs by Bollywood wokes.
