Prime minister Narendra Modi’s India is a country that is both fiercely patriotic and increasingly divided. Stirred up by wasps’ nest rhetoric and stoked by a news media that regurgitates the Modi position wholesale, it is not a country that takes kindly to anyone who dares hold the ruling party to account.
But a few courageous journalists persist in asking questions. Ravish Kumar, at the time of filming a television anchor and reporter for the station NDTV and the subject of this nerve-jangling documentary, is one. Captured by a jittery camera, the measured, eloquent Kumar calls out the propaganda that passes for news. He resists militaristic cheerleading to focus instead on the human stories – the job losses, the lack of basic infrastructure, the rubbish that piles up in the streets. Meanwhile, moments of peace with his young daughter are interrupted by his phone, delivering a torrent of death threats and accusations of “anti-nationalism”. And his underfunded newsroom haemorrhages staff members.
This is tense, essential film-making that argues for the importance of serious, balanced journalism in today’s world of factional infotainment, while also showing the cost to those who stand against the tide.
