Bollywood of India: Geopolitical Texts of Belonging and Difference and Narratives of Mistrust and Suspicion

A number of Bollywood films create meaning and geopolitical narratives through dialogue, raw images, settings, costumes and historical contexts. This study examines three contemporary Indian films —Earth (Deepa Mehta, 1998), Lagaan (Ashutosh Gowariker, 2001) and Sarfarosh (John Matthew Matthan, 1999) — that explore sub-continental history with a particular focus on insecurity, mistrust and suspicion. It discusses how socio-cultural and regional differences are (re)produced and how geopolitical meanings of ‘we’ and ‘they’ are narrated and constructed through Bollywood. These films construct an image of identity, belonging and difference, emphasizing that Hindus and Muslims are Indians however some legacies and suffering brought on during the partition of British India are still alive in memories when discrimination and exclusion are practiced in their ancestral homelands.

that some Bollywood movies in the region are connected with a formation of geopolitical imaginations in order to provide an understanding of culture, rituals, danger, identity and messages of reconciliation. It concludes with a suggestion that the aforesaid movies, while supportive of India's integrity and nationalistic outlooks, somehow do not reflect the core secular values of India that Gandhi used to believe or messages disseminated over decades to bring together his nation.

Bollywood Movies: Challenges from within
The name "Bollywood" based in Mumbai, a business hub of India, is a combination of two words: "Bo" from Bombay (the previous name of Mumbai) and "llywood" from Hollywood. The term Bollywood was incepted in the 1970s when India's film production industry surpassed Hollywood to become a world leader in terms of film production. Bollywood along with other regional film industries produced more than one thousand movies annually. The first Indian film, titled Raja Harishchandra (King Harishchandra) was screened in 1914 during World War I and it was the first silent feature in British India. 1 The first Indian film with sound was Alam Ara (The Light of the World) directed by Ardeshir Irani in 1931, which had a major commercial success.
In a South Asian context, film and documentaries are used to explore identity, nation formation, togetherness, faith, culture, religious taboo and especially structures of national identity. For example, certain Bollywood movies created by the Indian film industry in Mumbai have inspired the masses to better understand themselves; they have also widened the gap between Hindu and Muslim identity by narrating their faiths (i.e., Muslims and Hindus/We and They). A few movies released in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s disseminate specific massages pertaining to identity, threat, suspicion and security. Some of these include: Mission Kashmir (2000), Refugee Of late, Indian Hindi movies have merged into mainstream cinema worldwide, and have even captured the attention of the American Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars).
Among others, Monsoon Wedding, Bend It Like Beckham, Bollywood/Hollywood, Fire, Earth, Water and My Name is Khan have captured the imagination of western people. Indian cinema has recently become a focus of study and analysis by western critics and South Asian movie analysts.
"For decades, the Hindi popular cinema has had an appeal beyond South Asia. It has an enthusiastic following in the so-called South Asian diaspora, the communities of South Asian origin residing all over the world, including the West." 2 Since the 1990s the Indian film industry has undergone a massive change due to the gradual rise of the urban middle class. Bollywood movies have fascinated Indians and the South Asian diaspora in more than sixty countries. 3 The entire film industry of India earned about 14.6 million rupees from overseas, in 1998 that figure rose to 4 billion rupees, and by 2003 it reached close to 7 billion. 4 Indian cinema has exceeded every other film industry in the world with respect to audience. Since the 1990s it has captured the attention of academic enquiry in India and abroad.
The month of May in 1998 is considered an important time in the history of Indian film as this is when the government recognized it as an industry. It achieved formal industry status three years later in 2001. 5 The government of India has been realizing the influence of Indian cinema overseas; Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and their cultures around the world are inspired especially by the glamour of Indian girls, romance, melodrama, comedy, horror and folk-tale dances.
The content of commercial Indian movies is sometimes borrowed from Hollywood stories, dialogues and settings. As film is a reflection of a society's advancement and growth, Indian movies inadequately reflect the suffering and poor living conditions of populations in the country. The real Indian filmic masala (genres) are hybrid versions of imitations, and some of them, being far from reality, are almost Utopian. They are "best considered as hybrid forms, sometimes borrowing from one another, sometimes quoting each other and frequently blending together." 6

Earth, Lagaan and Sarfarosh: Narratives of Belonging, Difference and Mistrust
India's main initiative is to build a secular society accommodating various races and ethnic groups including a large Muslim minority. Earth revisited the unspeakable suffering of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs who left their homeland for a newly constructed country that triggered violence, killing, arson, pillage and rape, which resulted in a combined effort to find unity and strength for their survival. On the other hand, Lagaan is concerned with past events during colonial rule and the long-desired partition of the Sub-continent. It also provides a re-interpretation of British torture and brutal rule in the colonized Sub-continent, which gradually roused sentiments of independence and Indian nationalism. Lichtner and Bandyopadhya have rightly noted that "one movies portray Indian nationhood, identity crisis, mistrust, disbelief, terror and suspicion. These three movies reflect a more inclusive Indian society by discussing past events through the personal experience of contemporary characters in such a way that the audience garners a better understanding of India's past and colonial legacies while constructing discourses of unity, brotherhood, mistrust and differences.
The film Earth begins with Lenny (Maia Sethna) of Earth, a young girl suffering from polio, who narrates the story through her adult voice (Shabana Azmi) recalling "Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, who had lived together as one entity for centuries started to clamor for pieces of India Parsi communities. Constructing discourses on nation, nationhood, danger and the "other" as influenced by Subaltern philosophies, Mehta sets her film in Lahore of Pakistan and shows the period before partition to be a place of peace and harmony among and between the different communities. But during partition people were the scapegoats of fabricated political tensions and Lahore lost its purity, thereby plunging into civil war.
The young Lenny, the chief protagonist in the film, who witnessed the turmoil resulting from partition during her childhood, discusses the series of events from her perspective as an adult, which allows Mehta to bridge history and present. Earth discusses complex historical issues as well as current politically charged discourses. For example, a sharp debate takes place in Lenny's parents' house between a Sikh guest and a British bureaucrat over the British bringing syphilis back to India-"there is no syphilis in India until the British came." Here is another example of dialogue that works to create a discourse on nation, identity, danger and the Other.
(Shanta) I have heard before the British gives us independence, they will dig a long canal, one side in independent India and the other side in Pakistan. If they want two countries, that is what they will do, right, Madam? There was no syphilis in India until the British came.  The Sikhs faith came about to bring Hindus and Muslims close.
(Muslim) Some independence they give us, soaked in our brother's blood.

(Translated from Hindi by the author)
The film explicitly constructs discourses on identity and a pluralistic society by arguing that contemporary India can easily resolve its many divisions and dogmas rooted in the legacy of partition. "Mehta's premise, critical of the British but also of the Indian elite, is tantamount to advocating better relations between Hindus and Muslims, and therefore between The British Captain always treats villagers as subjects and curses Rajas, ruling them with an iron fist. He exploits villagers and Rajas and humiliates them considerably. On one occasion during a luncheon he forces Raja Puran Singh to eat meat knowing that he is a vegetarian.
When he increases taxes in Champaner, the villagers cry out for leniency. Russell manipulates them into playing a cricket tournament with his team of British soldiers; if his team loses, the province will be exempt from paying taxes for three years. If the villagers lose, they will pay triple the tax (Lagaan). Bhuvan, the hero and young rebel against the British regime, accepts the bet and forms a team comprised of mostly Hindus as well as one Muslim, one Sikh and one Dalit (untouchable). He trains with his fellow teammates and receives help from a sympathetic British lady named Elizabeth, who happens to be Russell's sister. She helps the villagers learn to play cricket, and in the end Russell and his team lose the game and bet. Humiliated, the central British authority leaves the village and withdraws its local cantonment. In the film, Inspector Salim (Mukesh Rishi) is a Muslim police officer who is scrutinized and surveilled by his co-workers. The police department suspects Salim has been siding with Muslim criminals. His "Muslimness" is a fundamental question and concern in the film.

Inspector Salim loses his courage and complains to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)
Ajay Singh Rathod (Aamir Khan), a middle class Hindu, and asks to have his name removed from the investigation. Salim comments harshly: "It is a sin to be poor in this country (India) and to be a poor individual like me is also a great sin." Thus Salim believes he is being treated unfairly and discriminated against due to his race and faith.
When Salim hands over the case to the ACP Rathod, he narrates to Salim the brutality and cruelty he and his family faced and how these experiences led him to become a police officer.
Here, Rathod "articulates predicament as being not discrimination-a systematic problem-but rather about belonging-an existential problem." 15 The following dialogue between Rathod and Salim is significant: Salim: Not only ten, you will find ten thousand if you can trust them. Don't ever try to say to anybody that this country is not his home (or does not belong to him).
Rathod: I will never say it. I will never.

(Translated from Hindi by the author)
The conversation between the two police officers is very symbolic in the film. Both share a love for the homeland, and are determined to save the country from any wrongdoing by perpetrators. But both are viewed by society as being different in identity and faith. That's why Rathod repeatedly tries to prove that Salim genuinely loves his country and his roots in India.
Rathod manipulates Salim's Muslim identity, and subsequently reminds him that India is not his

Es Muluk me garib hona ek gunah hai aur garib mujh jeisa aur bhi bara gunag hai
(It is a great sin to be poor and to be a poor person like me is the greatest sin).
Salim chose to be a police officer in the city for his and his family's well-being and security (the film didn't mention anything about his family), but he is discriminated against and scrutinized by senior officers at the department. He is sincere and devoted to his duties in all aspects and chases criminals who happen to be fellow Muslims. Thus, he prefers to be a true Indian rather than a Muslim. His nationalistic outlook is not properly valued by the police department, and the Gandhian philosophy of Ahimsa (as Indian values…do not harm or kindness towards all) is ignored in the case of Salim who represents the Muslim community.

The Other-Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis: the Marginalized and the Demonized
As a nation, India has been thriving to define its identity in the post-colonial era as a secular, multiethnic, diverse and pluralistic society despite the following majors events:  Bollywood's engagement at home and abroad and especially in the region is remarkable. It not only connects with upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class families and mass population as a whole but its messages simultaneously reach the political elites and bureaucrats who design strategy for foreign policy and regional relations. Rahimulla Yusufzai's words can be mentioned here:

Conclusion
These three films mainly depict India's integrity and nationalistic outlook but the notion of duty, obligation and reconciliation-a universal philosophy in which Gandhi of India firmly believed-is somehow missing from the core messages disseminated to the audience. They