Soft Power, Cinema, and Democratic Discourse

Abstract

When he first proposed the idea of soft power, Joseph Nye distinguished it from propaganda in a crucial way. He pointed out that "the instruments of soft power are not fully under the control of governments" since "culture and values are deeply rooted in civil societies." The complex interplay of soft power, democratic discourse, and Bollywood filmmaking in India is the subject of this theoretical study. Underlying the approach is Joseph Nye's important difference between propaganda and soft power, which he uses to stress that the former does not originate from governments but rather from the culture and values already present in civil populations. Soft power relies on credibility, as pointed out by Nye (2008), who cautions against propaganda-style deceptive messaging. Just as propaganda aims to transmit themes, soft power frequently arises as an unforeseen byproduct of artistic expression (Elliott, 2010). However, when it comes to cinema, the distinction between propaganda and soft power can become blurry. This is because films frequently reflect state-driven goals through their political and economic instrumentalization. As a cultural vanguard, Hindi film reflects and questions society standards, serving as a platform for the negotiation of democratic principles and standards. This article takes a look at Hindi films and how they change stories about democracy, how they promote conversations about equality, justice, and society ideals. It is a study to look at how Hindi cinema depicts democratic ideas and how it affects both viewers and filmmakers. It comes up with some important points on how culture, politics, and storytelling work together.