Muslim South Asia Conference 28 Oct, 2013
Shiraz Sheikh Green on Silver: Manufacturing Muslim Image through Bollywood Cinema
ABSTRACT: During the last decade, a series of Bollywood movies were produced which caricatured the Muslim image in a certain way. The biased portrayal grew in time when numbers of Muslim youths were framed and fabricated with false terror charges. The accumulated angst against the partisan communal profiling of Muslims outburst was protest against the movie Vishwaroopam. This has regenerated media debate about the artistic freedom and the freedom of expression. In this context, the paper focuses to analyse the portrayal of Muslims in Bollywood Cinema since 9/11. It seeks to examine the pattern of portrayal that negatively reinforces the bias against the community and also how with positive portrayal a balance is sought. For this purpose two clusters of movies are selected. One set of films produces loaded narrative that reinforces notion that ‘evil community’ is required to be contained whereas the second set producing a counter narrative. On theoretical plane the paper seeks to theorsie the prevailing phenomenon by applying two general theories. The first theory is of profitability – that is to exploit a burning issue which is easily sellable. Second, an assumption that there is politics entrenched with ideology that helped manufacture Muslim image as an enemy within to contain the bellicose threat of spread of Islam. Finally the paper tries to analyse the debates generating within the educated Muslim youths.
Key Words: Bollywood Cinema, Muslim Image, Hindutava, Hindu Nationalism, Muslim Youth, Freedom of Expression, Social Media.
Introduction In February of 2013 movie Vishwaroopam was in news due to protest against it by Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam and Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath. It resulted from the accumulated angst of Muslim groups. Protestors’ chief grievance against the movie was its portrayal of Muslim-self as terrorist. This period saw hundreds of Muslim boys implicated on terror charges – many falsely – who were acquitted after long years of trial.1 Series of legal and street protest against the film generated television debates on
1 M. Reyaz, “Muslim youths: India’s most wanted!,” TwoCircles.net, accessed on 7 September 2013, URL: http://twocircles.net/2013may23/muslim_youths_india%E2%80%99s_most_wanted.html. Also see A report by Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, Framed, Damned, Acquitted Dossiers of a ‘Very’ Special Cell. Can be accessed on http://document.teacherssolidarity.org/JTSA_Report.pdf
artistic freedom and freedom of expression and its limits. The media debate established that the protesting community is ‘illiberal’ and against the freedom of expression rarely emphasizing on the context which consequent to the articulation of this objection. The dissent ensued in the background of occurrences which bears implications for the community central to the subject of Vishwaroopam.
The background is the socio-political environment developed post 9/11 vis-à-vis Muslims globally in general and India in specific.2 During the same period Hollywood too shifted in its storytelling by focusing to fight the fanatic ‘evil’ in the Muslim world leaving the Godless communists.3 Simultaneously Bollywood produced many movies whose central subjects were Muslims. In this context, the paper focuses to analyse the portrayal of Muslims in Bollywood Cinema since 9/11.
It seeks to examine the pattern of portrayal that negatively reinforces the bias against the community and also how with positive portrayal a balance is sought. For this purpose two clusters of movies are selected. The first consist series of movies which nurtures communal biases through repeated depiction of ill-conceived stereotypes. It produces loaded narrative that reinforces notion that ‘evil community’ is required to be contained. The second cluster of movies tries to minimise the impact emanating from the first series of movies by producing a counter narrative. Its caricaturisation of Muslim is as a pious, rational, moral and normal person as “others.”
Context Unlike Hollywood which constructed its enemy outside its territory in the communist world the Bollywood cinema found it within the country. The caricaturisation of this ‘enemy’ has a historical context. Subaltern historian Shahid Amin who studied the
2 See reports of Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project (IRDP), URL: http://www.islamophobiacon.com/reports.html. Also See Islamophobia Watch: Documenting anti Muslim bigotry, URL: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/.
3 Communists were portrayed as enemy in James Bond and Rambo series movies. The Hurt Locker and Argo were two Hollywood movies made in last five years are plotted in the Muslim world which won Oscar awards.
popular Hindi text of late 19th and 20th centuries showed that remembrance of Muslim past in the popular works of Pratap Narayn Mishra, Bharatendu Harishchandra and Balkrishan Bhatt, was created as antagonistic to Hindu interest.4 Construction of Muslim ‘Other’ continued after partition as exhibited by Dibyesh Anand in his recent book Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear. Analysing literary works produced by RSS-VHP-Hindu Writers Forum and also generating ethnographic data, Anand illustrated that Hindu Nationalism is created against the Muslims ‘Other’.
Anand argued that proponents of Hindutava nationalism mobilise and generate negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims.5 Through his ethnographic research he established that Hindutva forces have “porno-sexualized” the Muslim body.6 In Hinutava meta-narrative Muslims were linked to Pakistan, rejected as fanatic and traitor, called as “Babar ki aulad,” their concentration is called “mini Pakistan”, and they work for Pakistan.7 His discussion exhibits how the task of popular myth-making through oral and written narratives continued. The centrality of Muslim ‘otherisation’ in the lexicon of Hindutava nationalism was not limited to popular narrative produced by its literati but also infiltrated the official ideological apparatus.
Prakash Louis in his empirical work showed that RSS tried to construct official- myth by giving communal contour to text books. BJP led government distorted History books to “imbibe a communal consciousness in the minds of young children.”8 The history text books of this time portrayed “Hindus as nation and stigmatized Muslims and
4 Shahid Amin, “Representing the Musalman: Then and Now, Now and Then” in Shail Mayaram et al (eds.), Subaltern Studies XII: Muslims, Dalits, and the Fabrication of History (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2005), pp. 1-35. Also see Romila Tahpar, The Past and Prejudice (New Delhi: National Book Trust, 1975).
5 Dibyesh Annand, Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), p.1.
6 Ibid, pp. 49-81.
7 Ibid, p. 40.
8 Prakash Louis, The Emerging Hindutava Force: The Ascent of Hindu Nationalism (New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 2000), p. 214.
Christian as anti national.”9 What imperative this construction of nationalism vis-à-vis Muslim “other” has caused? At the background of this context six movies are analyzed to see to what extent this officio-popular myth-making has impacted the subject of film- making in Bollywood cinema.
The Construction Film-makers are also get influenced by their contemporary settings. Therefore the initial few decades the Muslim subject of Bollywood cinema was largely represented by the feudal elites and aristocracy. Then later decades saw movies more on Muslim middle class or “Muslim social” whose subject was of common men’s concerns. In the last two decades the political scenario in the shadow of Hindutva nationalism underwent radical experiences. The cinema as a medium of creative and social change got impacted and also reflected the contemporary realty. One can argue that it only captured and translated what was already in the air into visual narrative. Or it can be also argued that it strengthen the existing stereotypes through partisan projection of Muslim identity rendering artistic justification.
Qayamat: City Under Threat (2003) Qayamat: City Under Threat was made in the background Muslim terrorists threatening the city of Mumbai. Three friends Ali and Abbas Ramini and Rachit are thieves. Rachit falls in love and wishes to leave this profession. But Ali and Abbas coerced him to commit his last crime. The heartless materialist Ali and Abbas show disrespect to his relations. They, under the snag of a Pakistani General, take 213 prisoners hostage and plant three missiles with deadly virus to blackmail the Indian government. Rachit’s humanism (read Hindu patriotism) stops him to be part of such inhumane act. To avenge this, Ali and Abbas dupe him that leads to his arrest.
9 Ibid, p. 215. Also see Arti Dhar, “Academics, eminent citizens dismayed over biases in text books,” The Hindu, New Delhi, 7 September 2013.
Rachit then helps a Muslim CBI officer Akram Sheikh to capture them. Rachit leads the police team to reach the jail through secrete tunnel from which he once escaped. Ali and Abbas also have a common girlfriend Laila who is as cruel and immoral as they are. Rachit with the help of Akram fights the entire gang and kills Abbas, Ali and Laila and saves the city. So at the end audience is filled with patriotism and narrative that they were Muslim terrorists who are ready to sell themselves to Pakistanis for money. Hindus are, no matter how bad they are, at the end ready to sacrifice for the motherland.
Dhokha (2007) Made in the backdrop of atrocities in Kashmir Dhokha is story that can have multiple readings. Inspector Zaid Khan’s wife Sarah turned out to be a fidayeen. The police suspecting his complicity in suicide-bombing arrests and then later suspends him. Zaid’s friend calls him traitor and accuses the Muslim community. Zaid’s sympathizers are also called pseudo-secular who are the real traitors. Zaid’s house was attacked by mob and people call him terrorist and traitor. After his suspension he goes for his own investigation and gets to know that her father was killed, brother was tortured and she was raped by police. Sarah and his brother Danish are shown to be indoctrinated by some terrorist chieftain Maulana Omar Faridi. In search of Danish, Zaid travels into the shanty colonies of Muslim where he is confronted by Faridi’s men. Zaid is later abducted by these people who bring him to Faridi. He tells Zaid that his wife was a martyr who avenged the humiliation and atrocities hurled on her. She has sacrificed in the cause of Allah. He tries to convince Zaid who disagree with his methods. At the end Zaid manage, to convince Danish not to commit fidayeen attack. He also exposes those corrupt police officers who are then convicted for Sarah’s father murder.
At one reading it looks like voice of moderate Muslims. But the visuals again establish the old clichés of depicting Muslims. Everyone is having beard, keffiyeh and skull caps. These people do not believe in the legal system of the state and are remorseless to kill innocent people. This also establishes that Muslim have propensity to resort to violence. It also establishes that even women cannot be trusted as Sarah became the female feedayeen.
Bhindi Bazzar Inc. (2010) Figuratively meaning chaos Bhindi Bazzar Inc. is actually a place in Mumbai called Bhendi Bazzar. It is the Muslim concentrated lanes of old Mumbai where according to the film-narrative criminals are born and thrive. Belonging to gangster films genre the film deals with dark streets and shady criminals. Mamu is the mafia-head of Bhindi Bazzar who snatched the kingship from someone and fears it will repeat upon him. All suspect all as Brutus who will snatch the reign by backstabbing.
The film “pornosexulizes” the Muslim body as Dibyesh Annad illustrate in his book. Mamu is paan-chewing Muslim gangster who dons Surma in his eyes and wears a skull cap. He has sexual relation with his sister in law who also has sexual relation with Mamu’s right-hand man Fateh. Her hyper-virility takes her to sleep with the Hindu right- hand man of the mafia-head (Piyush Mishra) of the rival gang. The Tawayaf of 1970s now turned into hyper-sexualized personalities that now they appear normal.
Reactive Deconstruction This second set of three movies represents counter narrative which the essay called reactive deconstruction of the popular fabrication. These films came as reaction to the stereotypes which translated into prejudice reflecting in behavior towards Muslims.
Chak De! India (2007) The character of protagonist Kabir Khan (Shahrukh Khan) set in the background of women hokey team’s struggle in Chak De! India is said to be inspired from the real-life hokey player Mir Ranjan Negi who was ostracized from the team for letting the match against Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games. The opening shot establishes the protagonist, Kabir Khan, as the captain of Indian hokey team who fails to convert a penalty shot into goal against Pakistan. Consequently India loses the match. Khan is accused of conspiring with Pakistan by media, faces humiliation and forced to leave his ancestral city as the neighborhood exhibits prejudices against him.
Seven years later he joins the disgraced women hokey team as coach. To reclaim his honor he led the team triumph over Australia in the world cup. This proves his nationalism and he returns to his ancestral home at the end with regained pride. Khan’s character reflects the dilemma of Indian Muslims whose loyalty is always in question. Director Shimit Amin made the audience feel and share the agony of a fellow citizen whose patriotism is subject to scrutiny. He portrayed that bias against Muslims exist in the society at large and they suffers from trust deficit. Amin aptly uses dialogue that “aise logo ko to partiona ke time hi Pakistan chale jana chaiye.” This attitude is the outcome of nationalism propagated by the right wing forces in this country.
Aamir (2008) Picturised in the murky streets of Mumbai, Aamir is a silent catharsis of Indian Muslims whose loyalty and intention is subject of constant suspicion. The film opens with the arrival of protagonist doctor Aamir Ali (Rajeev Khandelwal) at the Mumbai airport. Outside the airport Aamir receives calls from faceless villain who ask him to follow his instruction otherwise his family will be killed. He is directed to take a suitcase to deliver at certain place. Carrying the suitcase he travels through shoddy mohallas of Mumbai where Muslim live in large numbers.
The anonymous voice tries to convince Aamir, illustrating the plight of Muslim in India which needs to be avenged, to become part of his jihad. Aamir disagrees with his means. Aamir was asked to board on a crowded bus and ask to plant a suitcase bomb otherwise his family will face death. In catch-22 Amir thinks of his family and plants the suitcase and deboards. His heart changes as he thinks of passengers in the bus and takes back the suitcase. Aamir carries it to relatively empty place and clutches it against his chest. The bomb detonates on time blowing his body. The media frenzy still labels him as suicide –bomber who failed to accomplish his assignment.
My Name Is Khan (2010) Set in the background of 9/11 and located in American setting My Name Is Khan addresses the Indian audience back home too. The protagonist Rizwan Khan (Sharukh Khan) suffering from Asperger syndrome and a devoted believer joins his brother in Sans Francisco after his mother’s death. While working as salesman he meets Mandira (Kajol) a Hindu hairdresser with her son (Samir) from her previous marriage. Despite his brother’s disliking both marry and settle in a fictional city. Mandira and Samir adopt his surname, Khan. Samir becomes the victim of communal smear amid growing disliking for Muslim in the pretext of 9/11. Losing her son Mandira accuses Rizwan that due to his surname – Khan – he died and departs from him. Rizwan ask her what he has to do to be with her. She tells him that he has to tell the American President that his name is Khan and he is not a terrorist.
Taking her words seriously Khan sets out a journey to meet the president. Enroute he meets a fanatic Faisal Rahman in a mosque of Los Angles who tries to indoctrinate a group of young men. Rizwan disagrees with his methods and says that spreading hatred is work of Shaitan and he informs the FBI. Latter in a rally Rizwan sees the President and repeats that “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist.” The police arrest him interpreting his line as he said I am a terrorist. He was later released and goes to help the community of Afro-American with whom he befriended in Georgia. Later he meets the President who tells him “Your name is Khan and you are not a terrorist.” At the end Rizwan and Mandira unites.
Protagonists of these three films are free of visual clichés used to depict “good Muslims”.They are not speaking Urdu, not singing qawwali, neither wearing Pathani suits nor chewing paan. They are regular-looking educated guys who believe in god. But the stories they tell are really fictional or do they reflect social reality? Sharukh Khan, Azim Premji, APJ Kalam were all stopped at American airports for being Muslim. Shabana Azmi and Imran Hashmi denied home for being Muslims.10 To communicate his
10 Shabana Azmi’s interview with Karan Thapar on Devil’s Advocate URL: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=VeVzsG2VC_o.
angst Sharukh had to write long article “Being a Khan” in Outlook magazine.11 Are these film narrative only works of fiction or do they have and semblance to social reality?
Why Such Films? There are two very strong justification attributed to the making such films. The first reason comprehend is of profitability and the second is of politics of ideology.
The Profitability Qayamat: City Under Threat was the seventh largest grosser of the year of its release. Whereas Bhindi bazaar Inc. and Dhokha were the two low budged film made with new comers and some well known actors. These movies also made profit. The films analyzed in the reactive deconstruction category Chak De India and My Name Is Khan were the fifth and sixth largest grosser of the year of its release respectively. Aamir was again very low budget film which drew praise from the critics who seldom utter positive.
Farid Khan a script writer from Bollywood wrote an article in BBC Hindi service arguing that along with technological revolution the Muslim lower class stopped coming to cinema halls as satellite television brought these movies to their living room.12 Secondly Bollywood started targeting the overseas viewers who were not interest in the underbelly of village-India. Therefore the kind movies made on Muslim subject from1970s to 1990s called “Muslim Social” lost its centrality in the new shining India.
Politics of Ideology It is certainly near impossible task to establish any official linkages between fabrication of Muslim image and the motive behind it. On the basis of circumstances and the way
11 Read the full text at URL: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/read-shah-rukh-khan-s-article-which- appeared-in-outlook-turning-points-2013-323900
12 Farid Khan, “Musalman Nayak Kaise Ban Gaya ‘Kahlnayak’,” (How Muslim Hero turned into Villain), BBC Hindi, 31 July 2013, accessed on 2 September 2013. URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/entertainment/2013/07/130730_muslim_socio_tv_dk.shtml
politics of identity utilized in the political discourse in India give only signs which can be interpreted to get a meaning.
Maniratnam’s Roja (1993) laid the foundation of films portraying Muslims as terrorist ‘uprightly’. This film was made in the background rising insurgency in Kashmir after the Babri Masjid demolition coupled with the rise of Hindutava nationalism. The film was praised by L. K. Advani (BJP leader) and T. N. Seshan (then Chief Election Commisioner of India). Another film Bombay (1993) made on the subject of Bombay serial blast and subsequent riots. The film portrayed that Muslims as responsible for riots although Shrikrishna Commission report blamed the Shiv Sena and Police complicity for the riot. The Sangh Parivar imposed restriction on Deepa Mehta’s film Water (2005). Under the pressure of Sangh the BJP led government forced her to modify the script.
Govind Nihlani’s Dev (2004) and Rajkumar Santoshi’s Khakee (2004) portrayed police – politicians (read state) complicity in framing the Muslims.13 Omar Khalidi in his book showed that police was an active participant in 1992-93 Bombay riots and Muslims were told to go to Pakistan by them to save themselves.14 Another film by Samar Khan Shaurya (2008) illustrated how the armed forces are also infected with communal bias against the Muslims.
Ungaging the Self-Censorship Amid the anti-Muslim reverberations of 9/11 Indian Muslims were portrayed as antagonistic to national interest. It was the period when many Muslim youth were framed as terrorist. A section of upward looking middle class youth started questioning their position in the society. They also realized that part of the problem lies in their abysmal representation in media. To fill that they came out of their cocoon or self censorship and started making their voices heard on community-based new media. The new digital public sphere which did not require huge financial support provided the space to the
13 Right now there are 32 police personal in jail for committing fake encounter in Gujarat mostly of victims were Muslims.
14 Omar Khalidi, Khaki and Ethnic Violence in India: Armed Forces, police and Para-Military During Communal Riots (Gurgaon: Three Essays Collective, 2010), pp. 139-40.
educated youth to communicate to the larger audience. Muslim Observer from the US, Muslim Village from Australia and The Muslim News from the UK are some portals which addresses the issues related to the Muslims of the world in general. In India, Twocircles.net emerged as catalyst for other many sites which believed that people should know the news and views of Muslim related to social issues not necessarily on Islam. Muslim Mirror, Ummeed, Indian Muslim Observer are some of them. Due to these sites the ‘Muslim-self’ which only appeared in news related to fatwa, terrorism and riots started capturing other aspects of Muslim life.
Another strand of this questioning Muslim came forward as group of activists- community workers and professionals advocating the release of Muslim youths arrested in false charges through legal means. Two such organisations are Rihai Manch in Uttar Pradesh and Anhad (Act Now For Harmony and Democracy) for communal harmony founded by Left leaning activist like Shabnam Hashmi. A third way of addressing such grievances emerged as form documenting these cases. Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (JTSA) a group of left leaning young teachers comprising both Hindus and Muslims from Jamia Millia Islamia, JNU and University of Delhi came to show their solidarity by documenting such cases. First of their work came in the form of a book titled Framed, Damned, Acquitted: Dossiers of a ‘Very’ Special Cell15 which documented fifteen false cases. Very recently JTSA produced another book called Guilt By Association16 documenting 200 cases from Madhya Pradesh.
15 A report by Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, Framed, Damned, Acquitted Dossiers of a ‘Very’ Special Cell. Available on http://document.teacherssolidarity.org/JTSA_Report.pdf
16 A report by Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, Guilt By Association: UAPA Cases from Madhya Pradesh (New Delhi: 2013).