Cinema as a medium gained popularity in this country. This study examines the
Indian film industry very often portrays the Islamic symbol with type caste image,
which is negative; Muslims are being looked as distrustful people and are being
symbolized as terrorists. Indian film industry adds fuel to the fire by making a lot of
movies on Muslims and presenting them as terrorists and negative ones. Bollywood
cinema also creates the stereotypical image of Muslim characters replete with
peculiar forms of cultural symbols like ‘beard’ and ‘caps’ besides portraying the
Muslims either as feudal landlords ,villains and gangsters. The image constructions
of Muslims in Bollywood cinema have far reaching effects in shaping the dominant
discourse regarding Indian Muslims that is not restricted to only Indian population
but it also crosses borders to reach the diasporic community for mass conservation.
In such a situation, symbol regarding Muslims, which shapes the dominant political
discourses of equating Muslims with the ‘terrorist/anti-national Other’. This article
critically study that Indian cinema specially, Hindi cinema misrepresented the Indian
Muslims in terms of characters and protagonists. Hindi films have wrongfully
portrayed the Muslims either as non- modern feudal characters or as anti-national,
terrorist, villain, or anti-social characters. Moreover, the problem of an increasingly
‘missing Muslim’ can be found in an era of liberalization and globalization. This
study is being carried out to scientifically and critically search that how and to what
extent Indian Cinema is distorting and changing the Islamic symbol.
Source: Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture
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