While We Watched

Culture wars are a global phenomenon, increasingly contaminating the world of news. There have always been news outlets that lean left or right but now channels in search of ratings push “values” rather than “facts”, champion commentary over information gathering and instead of debating those who disagree with them, label them with nebulous terms like “woke” or “unpatriotic”. While people considering division along cultural lines might immediately think of the US, the problem has also become acute in Narendra Modi’s India as Vinay Shukla’s timely documentary shows.

In it, he follows the day-to-day life of award-winning journalist Ravish Kumar who, at the time, was working for NDTV (he now hosts his own YouTube channel). Kumar is shown to be a thoughtful journalist, who isn’t scared to ask questions about unemployment or the conditions many in rural India are living in. Thanks to sharp juxtaposing from editor Abhinav Tyagi is shown to be in contrast to many other news channels, which dismiss any opposition to Modi as being “anti-nationalist”. Ongoing animosity with Pakistan also looms large, as those who question the running of India are accused of being in league with terrorists from the neighbouring country.

This is about a fight for ratings, to a degree, but the attacks on Kumar and NDTV are also highly personal. We see him at home with his wife and young daughter, who playfully insists on calling him “donkey”, a warm domestic scene in stark contrast with the stream of phone death threats he is seen receiving at one point after his number goes viral. The cameras follow Kumar in the run-up to the 2019 elections in which the atmosphere becomes increasingly tense and threatening and it's impossible not to become increasingly concerned for Kumar’s wellbeing.

The nationalist sentiment is so strong that there are indications people are more than happy to kill in its name, even going so far as to admit it to reporters as though it were a badge of honour. Somehow through this Kumar retains a level of serenity and cordiality, even with those who are wishing him dead. Shukla indicates that this, in turn, has fuelled a climate of fear, with people scared to speak out against Modi for fear of reprisal - fears that seem to be borne out by what happens to NDTV during the course of this film.

In addition to attacks from the outside, Shukla shows the erosion from within, a succession of cakes indicating just how many members of staff are leaving. A clarion call for freedom of the press, despite taking a pessimistic view of the current state of journalism in India, Shukla still manages to indicate that while there are still those willing to speak out and others willing to be discerning in what they watch and belief, all is not lost.