Umer Bin AjmalWhen it comes to Bollywood’s love affair with military action, a few familiar titles like Border and Lakshya immediately come to mind—films that nostalgically revisit wartime valour for a new generation.
But lately, a fresh genre has emerged, one far less concerned with retrospection and far more in sync with the chest-thumping politics of present-day India, where the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has been in power since 2014.
Enter Uri, Operation Valentine, Fighter and The Kashmir Files—cinematic ventures that turn national tragedies into nationalist triumphs and military strikes into box office gold.
And it seems another one is already in the works. It would most probably be named ‘Operation Sindoor’, the name India gave to its operation in which it attacked Pakistani cities with missiles on May 7.
There has been a mad dash to claim the trademark rights for ‘Operation Sindoor’ by a number of Indian businesses, including billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.
Indian media reports say that the trademark is being secured for a future Bollywood flick or any other entertainment project.
Over the years, the Indian film industry has mastered the art of converting blood, bullets and bereavement into branded content. Some films hit the jackpot, while others fizzle out. But the gold rush rarely ends with just a movie, it rather kickstarts a stampede to trademark titles and copyright slogans before the next air strike or press conference.
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On the very day India launched missiles toward Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Reliance filed for a trademark of ‘Operation Sindoor’ under Class 41 of the trademark rules.
Class 41 is a classification that, among other things, includes educational services, animal training and the public presentation of art for entertainment.
This isn’t new terrain. Bollywood has long mined “national interest” for commercial purposes. What’s new is how seamlessly current military escalations are being packaged for prime-time drama and studio profits.
As reported by Live Law, Reliance was one of four eager applicants, alongside Mumbai resident Mukesh Chetram Agrawal, retired Group Captain Kamal Singh Oberh and Delhi-based lawyer Alok Kothari.
But after some public backlash, Reliance pulled out faster than it filed.
In a May 8 statement, Reliance blamed the whole thing on an unauthorised “junior person” at Jio Studios who apparently mistook international conflict for a marketing campaign.
The company assured the public it had no plans to own a phrase “now part of the national consciousness”.
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Meanwhile, the real circus was only getting started in Bollywood.
Within hours of the strike, over 30 title registration applications flooded industry bodies like the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) and the Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC), according to Hindustan Times.
By 3 pm local Indian time on May 7—just hours after the strikes—the race was on. Scripts hadn’t been written, but trademarks were already being snatched up.
IFTPC’s Suresh Amin confirmed that applications came in for both films and web series. IMPPA’s Haresh Patel said 20 to 25 submissions came within 48 hours, mostly from Hindi-language producers.
And who’s in the running? Big names. Actor John Abraham’s banner. Filmmaker Aditya Dhar. Director Madhur Bhandarkar. Studios like Zee and JP Films. They’re all lining up to turn geopolitics into showbiz.
Potential titles in circulation? Operation Sindoor, Pahalgam: The Horrific Terror and the Sindoor Operation.
“This has become a trend,” trade analyst Atul Mohan told Hindustan Times. “Producers want to latch on to incidents of national importance. It helps with visibility and marketing.”
What’s a missile strike if not a teaser trailer for the next blockbuster? As backdoor lobbying heats up to grab the most “marketable” titles, one wonders whether such events have now become just another intellectual property, waiting to be optioned, branded and streamed in 4K.
Because in today’s India, war is not just politics by other means. It’s content as well.
