Book Review |Nadira Khatun's Post Colonial Bollywood And Muslim Identity: Production, Representation, And Reception

Indian cinema, a significant force in shaping the socio-political discourse in the country, is a powerful tool for addressing the societal landscape. It is a medium that effectively communicates social and political ideologies, redefining the meaning of culture and its interaction with other cultures. Early colonial cinema made by Indian filmmakers, promoted reformative ideas through allegory, making it a potent tool for entertainment and social change. Post-independence cinema has explored various societal issues, including religious, political, and social divisions. It is crucial to recognise that Indian cinema encompasses a wide range of genres and narratives across several decades, making it more than just a source of entertainment. It is now a critical space with significant political aspects that articulate ideologies with enormous societal consequences. The current example is the film Chhaava (2025), which showcases violent uproars, igniting people's emotions regarding the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

In the evolving cinematic landscape, Nadira Khatun emerges as a pioneering figure, being one of the few Muslim cinema scholars to critically examine the portrayal of Muslim identity in Bollywood. Her groundbreaking work, Postcolonial Bollywood and Muslim Identity: Production, Representation, and Reception (2023), delves into the depiction of Muslims in Bollywood films over the past few decades. Her work strategically captures the conceptualisation of Muslim film genres, tracing their evolution to the chronological shifts in the nation's political landscape. This framework is fortified by empirical evidence바카라�including fieldwork and interviews with key individuals바카라�offering a comprehensive analysis. Bringing audience insights into her work allows the reader to witness the creation and consumption of cinema closely.

This book explores the role of cinema in promoting agenda-driven otherisation. The author critically analyses how Muslims are portrayed and how their contributions are depicted in Hindi cinema. She traces the Muslim identity in historical films that goes through the change of depiction from a 바카라�diplomat warrior바카라� to an invader. The vividly illustrated image on page number 57 effectively conveys the evolving political representation of a community, in which she compares the picture of diplomat Akbar in the film Jodha Akbar (2008) and invader Allaudin Khilji in Padmaavat (2018). This change underscores the decline of the Nehruvian era, which once promoted liberal democracy, secularism, and inclusiveness. Furthermore, she explains how cinematic propaganda takes its turn from secular representation to exoticisation or the otherisation of marginalised communities. However, as she states,바카라� The idea of 바카라�them바카라� or the 바카라�other바카라� has always been a part of the Indian narrative바카라�.

Even the secular Muslim depiction in Hindi cinema was presented through a stereotypical lens. These representations mirror a broader trend in mainstream narratives that focus on the transition from tradition to modernity, while neglecting the real challenges faced by Muslim Communities, such as ongoing stereotyping and social exclusion. This distorts the public perception and undermines efforts towards meaningful and inclusive social change. Khatun explains that, "Although earlier Hindi cinema stereotyped Muslims as 바카라�Other,바카라� in recent decades, Muslims have been shown as a threat to the nation and as a source of violence within the nation-state바카라�. In her text, she presents the whole politics behind the portrayal of Muslim gangsters and mafias, which manipulates the community's image, reinforcing damaging preconceptions. The author inspects Hindi cinema, where the depiction of Pakistan and terrorism are often equated with Indian Muslims. On-screen, the Muslim characters are portrayed in ghettoised conditions and associated with rising crime. These kinds of narratives play a significant role in shaping media perception and influencing the public psyche, leading to a one-dimensional view of Muslims.

In the last chapter of Muslims in a modern genre, the author explores how Hindi cinema engages with Muslims on screen in the context of a neoliberal economy, which has corporatised Bollywood, making film production more complex. Nadira hints at how these changes in public policy raise questions about cultural identity, influencing societal norms and perceptions of belonging. Recent political upheavals, such as CAA, NRC, Article 370, and communal clashes, are heavily shaping the narrative of Indian cinema, which includes films such as Padmaavat (2018), The Kashmir Files (2022), and The Kerala Story (2023). Khatun discusses how the decline of single-screen theatres and the emergence of multiplexes have shaped cinematic narratives, reinforcing stereotypes that valorise materialism and legitimize violence. She points out that Hindi cinema바카라�s social narratives prioritise majoritarian religious faith; even Hollywood depicts Islamic male supremacy and portrays Arab Muslims as hostile.

Khatun바카라�s reflection on the post-1990s scenario of Hindi cinema conveys a different image of Muslims, where we need characters such as Kabir Khan in Chak De! India (2007) to prove a Muslim to be secular and patriotic. This very much gives thought to Bollywood's cinepatriotism, which tries to carve an ideal image of India crafted by the majority. The author conveys how even such a secular image reinforces a fixed perception of Muslims as linked to violence and crime.

This book is also essential to understand the gender dynamics within the Muslim community, as shown in Indian cinema. Khatun, in her writing, examines the otherisation of women through the purdah system and how it marginalises them. She addresses the courtesan culture and their downgrading to nautch girls. The book engages with the theoretical paradigm of Laura Mulvey바카라�s male gaze theory to explain the woman becoming the site of pleasure through the male, the audience, and the camera lens. 바카라�Beauty is another critical component in achieving the art of seduction,바카라� she says. This concept perpetuates patriarchal values in cinema, coding women as objects for male pleasure. Khatun바카라�s brief but significant engagement with gender draws attention to how Muslim women are equally targeted in Hindi cinema, as seen in The Kerala Story (2023).

The writer's critical engagement with Bollywood creates a space to reflect on societal attitudes toward Muslims, challenging traditionally framed narratives. Khatun바카라�s thesis, expanded into a book, is a commendable contribution to Muslim communities. However, its analytical lens could be broadened by reflecting on the Muslim position in the global context. The author could add more sections on genderisation and regional variation in Muslim representation, which could enhance further development in future editions. Nevertheless, Khatun skilfully interweaves the concepts of identity and postcolonial discourse with cinema. The book is a beacon of hope, fostering critical thinking through its essential characteristics as it navigates contemporary issues surrounding nationalism and identity. This book can be read to understand the portrayal of Muslims in Hindi cinema and how it has evolved over time. It covers a substantial period of films and their portrayal of Muslims and concludes with the most recent phase. The findings of the book suggest the crisis faced by Indian Muslims in contemporary times and how it is affecting society at large. Though this book is an academic work, the text is quite engaging and is a timely delivery on the media representation of Indian Muslims, written in an accessible manner that can be read by everyone.

Sara Faraz is a Cinema scholar pursuing her Ph.D. in the Department of English at Aligarh Muslim University. She is the author of 바카라�Midnight Echoes바카라�.