Kurbaan and some food for thought

After watching Kurbaan (Renzil D'silva), it dawned on me that much of what we call 'Hindi mainstream cinema' is also 'Hindu mainstream cinema'. Not that I'm stating something that hasn't been dealt with before, but watching this film made me think about the issue (or rather, the problem) of depicting the Muslim identity in Hindi films.

Being a Muslim character in a Hindi film is never incidental. So if you are playing Muslim, the you also become a medium, through which the director tries to deliver a message about identity, communal tension or secularism. Films like Iqbal (Nagesh Kukunoor, 2005) are rare, in which the protagonist's identity as a Muslim has very little to do with how the story unfolds.

A very broad historical review will tell us that Muslim characters in Hindi films are largely stereotypical. The multi-dimentionality that is otherwise available to a Hindu character is almost never given to a Muslim one.

In the 1960s, we saw Muslim characters as protagonists in films like Chaudhavi Ka Chand (M. Sadiq, 1960) and Mere Mehboob (H. Rawail, 1963). These films belong to the genre of the Muslim Social and are replete with nazaaqat and shayari, but fail to go beyond that. Later in the '70s, we will see Muslim characters in supporting and minor roles in films like Sholay (Ramesh Sippy, 1975) bringing home the idea of a secular nation. In a film like Amar Akbar Anthony (Manmohan Desai, 1977), we do come across a Muslim protagonist, but the "role" he is playing in this film is much too obvious. He is clearly not an individual, but part of a trio symbolic of national and religious harmony.

The Sooraj Barjatya and Karan Johar films of the 90s find a tiny niche for Muslim characters, once again only in supporting roles. For example, Sayeeda in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (Karan Johar, 2001) and Anwar in Hum Saath Saath Hain (Sooraj Barjatya, 1999). This is not more than a token presence, almost as if to say, "See, we Hindus are so benevolent towards our Muslim brothers."

Now, owing to the current international climate, some new stereotypes have emerged in the depiction of Muslim characters. On the one hand, we have the slick, smart and glib-talking hero, whose charm conceals the fact that he is a dangerous (and also perpetually scowling) terrorist on a deadly mission. Cases in point are the films Fanna (Kunal Kohli, 2006), New York (Kabir Khan, 2009) and now Kurbaan. On the other hand, we see a man, struggling with the issues of a Muslim identity in a largely Hindu milieu - a milieu that suspects him of being a traitor, as he desperately tries to prove the cliche that he is 'an Indian first and then a Muslim'. For example films like Aamir (Raj Kumar Gupta, 2008), Rang De Basanti (Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, 2006) and Chak De India (Shimit Amin, 2007).

Muslim women, of course, never have to deal with such issues, but that is another concept and merits a separate discussion.

So, even as Hindi mainstream cinema explores different levels of characterisation, the Muslim character still remains a type, and his depiction a problem. It is easy to accept a Muslim actor rising to iconoc status playing a Punjabi boy called Rahul in several films. But somehow the dialogue becomes difficult to digest if the same hero were to say, "Rizwaan, naam toh suna hoga?"