The actor Varun Dhawan recently said that patriotism needs to be felt, not said. It is an indication of our times that level-headed statements such as this are considered brave.

We have been conditioned - thanks to sycophantic social media accounts, the imposition of pointless laws and most forcefully, a torrent of nationalistic films - to believe that to prove ones patriotism one must have an image of the national flag as ones profile picture, and the words ‘proud Indian’ as ones bio. To be forced to stand for the national anthem in cinema halls - a secular, socialist, democratic venue if there ever was one - and to be expected to cheer every time a fictional character delivers a passionate speech about our country - that is what has become the new normal.

And what better way to publicise ones patriotism than to project poorly written propaganda on thousands of movie screens across the country?