WHO IS AFRAID OF SHAH RUKH KHAN? NEOLIBERAL INDIA’S FEARS SEEN THROUGH A CINEMATIC PRISM Alessandra Consolaro Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici,
[email protected] Abstract. 21st century India constructs itself as a neoliberal and consumerist superpower. In his cinematic career Shah Rukh Khan has become an icon of a rampant middle class, transforming himself from an antihero into a model story of Indian success. Focusing on identity politics, in this article his persona is utilized as a prism through which some representations of fears connected to 20th century India can be observed. Keywords: Indian cinema – Contemporary Indian history – Identity – Communalism 1. Bollywood Badshah At the beginning of the 21st century India constructs itself as a neoliberal and consumerist superpower. Working with the assumption that visual culture, specifically film, draws on wider hegemonic discourses circulating within the public space to construct its own narrative, and that hegemonic definitions emerge and take shape within ‘public culture,’ of which film is a part; this article utilizes Shah Rukh Khan [hereafter SRK]’s persona as a prism through which some representations of fears connected to contemporary India can be Governare la paura - 2014, luglio - ISSN 1974-4935 Alessandra Consolaro observed. In his cinematic career SRK has become an icon of a rampant middle class, transforming himself from antihero into a model story of Indian success. I will use some of SRK’s films, from Darr to My Name Is Khan, in order to uncover a trajectory of some of India’s fears over a decade and a half.