RETRACTED ARTICLE: Postcolonial Hindi cinema and neo-nationalism: The politics of Muslim identity

In the era of globalization and liberalization, cinema has become an important tool for propagating the idea of ‘neo-nationalism’. ‘Neonationalism’ denotes the contemporary manifestation of nationalism as Hindu nationalism – opposed to ‘ideology that focuses both on loyalty to and pride in one’s nation’. In this article, I have used the term to interpret how contemporary Bollywood exhibits India as a Hindu rashtra (nation) through the new narratives of Indian cinematic space. In contemporary times, Bollywood imagines India as a Hindu rashtra (nation), thereby making the minorities, especially Muslims, express their constant allegiance to the nation. The divisions in Indian society, whether sexual, religious or based on ethnic identity, have been more apparent in recent years. But, ignoring this fact, Hindi cinema continues to prioritize a ‘monolithic image of the nation’. In this paper, I argue that if Indian nationalism is to be represented as Hindu nationalism and Indian culture as Hindu culture, it logically follows that this majoritarian construction needs the minority other to reinforce this notion of nationalism and culture. This paper explores the position of Muslims in contemporary Bollywood films, adopting textual analysis (that is, reading the films as texts) Using Edward Said’s theoretical framework of Orientalism, this paper elucidates how specific popular contemporary Bollywood films have dealt with the liminality of the Muslim ‘Other’ in by either representing Muslims in archetype characters or by vilifying their image. The representation of Muslims in Bollywood films has been divided into three broad segments: representation of terrorists, the portrayal of patriotic Muslims, and the effect of ‘love jihad’ on Bollywood.