In recent years, Bollywood has undergone a quiet but significant shift. The larger-than-life romances and family dramas that once defined mainstream Hindi cinema now share space with a growing genre of military and espionage thrillers. These films are not just about action, they are about power, resolve, and a ‘reimagined’ idea of the Indian state.

At the heart of this transformation lies an interesting, often understated reference point, i.e., Israel. Not always named directly, but frequently evoked, Israel appears in these films as a benchmark, a “gold standard” for how a nation should confront terrorism. Through narratives of precision strikes, covert missions, and political decisiveness, Bollywood is increasingly borrowing from what it perceives as the Israeli model of counter-terrorism.

This cinematic trend is not accidental. It reflects both changing geopolitics and a shifting public appetite for stories where India is no longer reactive, but assertive.

From Restraint to Retaliation: The Uri Moment

The turning point came with the movie Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019). While rooted in a real military operation, the film did something more profound, it reframed India’s strategic identity on screen.

The now-famous line, “Yeh naya Hindustan hai… ghar mein ghusega bhi aur marega bhi” (“This is a new India; it will enter your home and strike you”), became more than dialogue. It became a declaration.

What stands out is how closely this mindset mirrors the Israeli doctrine of pre-emption, acting before threats fully materialize, often beyond national borders. The film’s emphasis on surgical precision, advanced surveillance, and elite special forces echoes a global image long associated with Israel’s security apparatus.

This is where the parallels become particularly compelling. The film’s tactical imagination and its emphasis on surgical strikes, precision targeting, and relentless pursuit of adversaries, echoes strategies often associated with Mossad. The shadow of operations like “Operation Wrath of God” looms in the background of the movie, the idea that those responsible for terror can be tracked, targeted, and eliminated anywhere, regardless of borders or diplomatic constraints. These sequences showcased in the movie subtly evoke the growing India-Israel defense collaboration, particularly in unmanned aerial systems, where jointly developed drone technologies have become central to........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)