Film industry’s portrayal of the police force has irked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said cinema has created a “very bad image” of the police in the minds of the common man. He said the government should make a special effort and rope in a PR agency to meet filmmakers and engage them in a process to bring out the best of the police force.

“The film industry has created a very bad image of the police in the minds of the common man and I ask them-why? Yes, there may be a some shortcomings but should only that be highlighted? Is it not our duty to remove these shortcomings by bringing into light the positive and good things,” he said.

“The image of films on the common man is immense and without their cooperation, policing cannot be successful”, he said. “We must think about long-term strategy to change the thoughts and perception of the common people based on reality”, Modi said.

Many Bollywood movies have seen the hero playing out the role of a cop with leading stars of all times donning the police uniform at least once in their career. Modi also blamed the media for mostly highlighting negative news though “there are thousands of good news which do not find a place in the media”.

The Prime Minister also called for setting up of websites of every police stations, like he did as the Gujarat Chief Minister, to highlight the positive work done by the police stations. “Each individual at some point of time in their life has a story of how the police has helped them and these stories should be brought to light to create a positive image of the police force.

“Each police station should put online a positive story every week and then people will see the many good things being done by the police,” he said.