Gen Z protests reveal Bollywood's struggle to capture youth unrest

As thousands of young Indians take to the streets demanding jobs, education reform, and an end to corruption, a curious cultural phenomenon has emerged. Protesters are not looking at new Bollywood releases for inspiration. Instead, they are revisiting a 20-year-old film — Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti.

The movie, starring Aamir Khan, Siddharth, and R. Madhavan, tells the story of modern Delhi university students who get drawn into revolutionary politics after acting in a documentary about Bhagat Singh. Its themes of state apathy and youthful idealism feel eerily current to Gen Z.

The old film that speaks louder than new releases

Why are young Indians rewinding to 2006? The answers reveal a gaping hole in today's Bollywood. Rang De Basanti ends with the protagonists assassinating a corrupt defence minister and then dying in a hail of police bullets. The film does not offer a neat, happy resolution — it asks uncomfortable questions about the price of change.

Current protests, which began in late July 2026, have seen demonstrators carrying placards with dialogues from the film. Social media feeds are flooded with clips of Aamir Khan's character, DJ, delivering his fiery courtroom speech. The movie has trended on Netflix India for three consecutive weeks.

Jawan and the fantasy of instant justice

At the other end of the spectrum sits Shah Rukh Khan's 2023 blockbuster Jawan. Directed by Atlee, the film features a dual role for Khan — a father and son fighting a corrupt system. The protagonist, Azad, is a jailer who leads a group of female inmates on a Robin Hood-style mission to redistribute wealth and punish villains.

Jawan was a massive commercial success, earning over Rs 1,000 crore worldwide. But its appeal lies in fantasy. The hero solves problems through vigilante action and grand set-pieces. There are no messy protests, no moral ambiguity, no sacrifice without reward. Critics point out that Jawan offers catharsis, not a mirror.

Young protesters have noted the contrast. One viral tweet reads: 'Rang De Basanti showed us why we protest. Jawan showed us what we wish would happen. Bollywood now only makes the second kind.'

Bollywood's lost connection with the streets

Industry insiders acknowledge the disconnect. Trade analyst Komal Nahta told Bollywood Hungama that studios have become risk-averse. 'Producers want pan-India hits, not political statements. A film like Rang De Basanti would struggle to get a green light today because it doesn't guarantee a happy ending or a dance number every 15 minutes.'

The result is a vacuum. While southern Indian cinema has produced politically charged hits like Kantara and Pushpa, Hindi films have largely retreated into action-fantasy, star vehicles, or formulaic romances. Even Amitabh Bachchan's 2000 film Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!, which dealt with a real-life hunger strike by a widow fighting for housing rights, remains obscure.

That film, directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza, told the story of an elderly woman who goes on a hunger strike after being evicted. Bachchan played a lawyer. It was a small, critical success but a commercial failure. Today, it is almost forgotten.

What comes next

Bollywood may soon have no choice but to catch up. The current protests are not dying down, and the youth are hungry for stories that reflect their reality. Filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap and Zoya Akhtar are reportedly developing projects inspired by the unrest. Whether studios will back them remains to be seen.

One thing is clear: when a generation turns to a 20-year-old film for its protest anthem, the industry has some serious catching up to do.