Pritam's Blog
Does Raees Serve The Hindutva Interest Of Making Muslims The “Other”?
The recent Bollywood blockbuster Raees has been on the headlines regularly not only because it stars Shah Rukh Khan, but also for multiple other reasons.
Firstly, the female protagonist in the film opposite to SRK was a Pakistani actor, Mahira Khan. These are hard times when the Hindu nationalists in the country call for bans on movies having actors from the ‘enemy country’ and Pakistani singers are not allowed to perform in India. Under these circumstances, Mahira Khan’s association with the movie of course gave place for discussions, if not plenty of debates.
The film also generated controversy after the movie was banned in Pakistan for it has apparently undermined Islam and a specific religious sect. The film has also been criticized for portraying Muslims, in general, in a negative way. At the same time, it was compared with perfectionist Aamir Khan’s Dangal and was said that SRK did more nationalism in Raees. Lastly, Raees is apparently based on the life of Abdul Latif, the Gujarat-based gangster and a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim.
Of all these grounds on which the film has been discussed and debated in the media, the representation of Muslims in the movie probably deserves more attention. The film indeed represents Muslims in their stereotypical image. While some of the stereotypical ways in which Muslims are represented in the movie can be traced back to the era of Muslim Social, others are typical Muslim stereotypes which have existed in Indian films forever.
The Muslim Social was a genre of Bollywood films which was highly popular from the 1950s till the 1980s. Thematically, the films of this genre were same as any other Bollywood drama, but these films featured the Muslim culture and life in India. Although these movies had good messages and propagated modernity among Muslims, it ultimately gave birth to a stereotypical Mulsim image, wherein Muslims males were shown in Pathani-suit, the females in Salwaar- Kameez, they were portrayed as speaking in chaste Urdu, etc.
Such stereotypical portrayals of Muslims have become a permanent feature of Indian cinema, particularly Bollywood, and Raees too maintains it in its representation of Muslims. Be it in the form of SRK in Pathani- suit or the playful choice of poetic Urdu words to deliver a particular statement, Raees reinforces the stereotypical image of Muslims as propagated by the Muslim Social genre of Bollywood films.
However, this particular kind of stereotypes influenced by the Muslim Social, which might cause their dealienation from the mainstream, is, at the end of the day, not as harmful to the Muslim image as the other typical stereotypes used in the movie. Right from the moment of SRK’s first appearance in the movie till the end, he has been portrayed as a violent character. Although throughout the movie, he keeps on saying “Koi dhanda chhota nahi hota… aur dhande se bada koi dharm nahi hota,” (“No work is demeaning… and no religion is superior to work”) it doesn’t seem so from the way he is introduced to the audience - where he is seen lacerating his back at a Muharram celebration- thus giving an impression that he is, at the end of the day, a believer of highest order who doesn’t mind being violent to even himself for his religion. This in turn also portrays Islam as a religion that propagates violence.
This violent image of the Muslims has been maintained throughout the movie where various Muslim characters have been portrayed as criminals, terrorists, wanted persons, and without morals. Although SRK’s role as Raees is that of a daring, violent outlaw — a Robin Hood kind of character who breaks the law, resort to violence but helps the poor irrespective of their religion, the message of the film is quite clear — that even being a ‘good’ Muslim is not enough (OK, no spoilers even though it has been a month of its release).
With the rise of Hindutva in India, the “othering” of Muslims have reached to new heights. Under these situation, portraying Muslims as violent will only serve the Hindu nationalist interest. The predominant belief that Muslims are a threat to India as propagated by Hindu supremacists will gain momentum because of movies like Raees. It is high time that the Bollywood filmmakers began making movies with a sense of responsibility.