Nationalism | Café Dissensus

Dec 5

Hindu-Muslim Riots in Bollywood Cinema: Observations on ‘Bombay’ (1995) and ‘Firaaq’ (2008)

By Archisman Chaudhuri
I am not a scholar trained to study and analyse films, but someone who, as a common viewer, has penned his observations on how Bollywood depicts nationalism (in this context, communal riots) on the silver screen. Bombay (1995) and Firaaq (2008) deal with two episodes of Hindu-Muslim violence in contemporary India and in a subliminal way give India, the nation, and its people, watertight identities.

Dec 5

The prodigal sons of Bollywood: Understanding the Kashmir conflict through Hindi cinema

By Julia Szivák
Even though Kashmir-themed films fashion themselves as political texts about the conflict, the characters of the films are not representative of the Kashmiri population, the political content is only secondary to the unfolding family drama and the conflict is represented as a fight between good and evil.

Dec 5

Indian Muslims, Bollywood, and Neo-Nationalism

By Nadira Khatun
Indian Hindi cinema establishes certain behaviours and values associated with certain dominant groups as the norm, while marginalizing others. The films portraying terrorism in different contexts such as Kashmir infiltration and the scattered terrorist attacks across India suggest that the constant repetition of these stereotypical images in multiple films signifies Muslims as ‘the enemy within’.

Dec 5

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Through the lens of Haider: (Re)-reading nationalist discourses

By Payel Pal
If in Hamlet Gertrude’s representation is most compulsive in the closet scene, then Haider differs from it in enunciating a different polemic through Ghazala. Essentially, the film focuses on the liminality of Ghazala’s position. In her private meetings with her son, Ghazala desperately tries to ensconce him to understand her distressing predicament as a “half-widow”.

Dec 5

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Terrorism, Nationalism, and Bollywood: Analyzing ‘A Wednesday’

By Srobana Bhattacharya
In this article, I discuss how terrorism is represented in Hindi cinema, by analyzing the film, A Wednesday (2008). Events of terrorism, show complex interactions between perpetrators, victims and targets, and other audiences (national and international governments). This complex interplay of interactions has provided numerous plots and subplots for Bollywood. It is crucial to understand how these interactions are represented in popular culture as it often serves as the platform for mass appeal and can be a powerful tool to initiate discussions of nation, nationalism, and political conflict.