I remember the hypnotic spell Ekta Kapoor’s drivel had cast on Indian Middle Class. Modi’s hypnotic spell mirrors that. He figured out quite early that they could be sold anything if it was shrouded in grandiosity, melodrama & appealed to their baser instincts in name of morality

It was also the beginning of the era of Modi’s domination of Gujarat in 2002. Ekta Kapoor’s shows were already beaming bourgeois upper caste morality centered around Gujarati culture everyday to millions of households. 2/n

That played beautifully with the creation of the Modi myth of the Gujarat model which centered around ghettoization of Muslims & economic development (neoliberalism) tied to majoritarianism 3/n

This phenomenon in conjunction with the global Islamophobia in the wake of 9/11 shaped the morality of the emergent Indian middle class. It was a tinderbox waiting to burst into flames. And it did in 2014 post the India against Corruption “movement” 4/n

This created Modi’s charismatic image & of Gujarat as a Utopia in the imagination of Hindu Middle Class where Brahmanical values & business reigned Supreme. That’s why Modi in UP 2 years back referred to “Kyunki Saans..” & “shamshan+kabristan” in the same breath 5/5