Kamat's Potpourri Kamat Research Database  
Kamat's PotpourriNew Contents
About the Kamats
Feedback
History of India
Women of India
Faces of India
Indian Mythologies
geographica indicaArts of India
Indian Music
Indian Culture
Indian Paintings
Dig Deep Browse by Tags
Site Map
Historical Timeline
Master Index
Research House of Pictures
Stamps of India
Picture Archive
Natives of India
Temples of India
Kamat Network
Blog Portal


(Keyword Search)

Dreaming The Nation: Domestic Dramas In Hindi Films Post-1990

Title:Dreaming The Nation: Domestic Dramas In Hindi Films Post-1990
Authors:Sheena Malhotra and Tavishi Alagh
Publication:South Asian Popular Culture / Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group
Enumeration:Vol. 2, No. 1 pp. 19 - 37 , April 2004
Abstract:Hindi cinema has functioned as a site for the production and exploration of national identities and ideologies in the popular imagination. An examination of some of the most successful films of the 1990s (Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Pardes, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, etc.) reveals the emergence of the domestic drama as a highly popular genre wherein a troubling new construction of Indian identity emerges. This new construction is one that considerably narrows the diversity, multiplicity and secular constructions of Indian identities in previous decades. We argue that this trend in Hindi cinema post-1990 reflects the significant socio-political (rise of the Hindutva movement) and economic changes (liberalising of the economy) that have taken place in India during this time. Domestic Hindi film dramas post-1990 display a remarkably consistent pattern in producing a monolithic Indian identity that is Hindu, wealthy and patriarchal in nature. We find that the terrain of who gets included in the signifier 'Indian' has shifted significantly. The wealthy among the diasporic Indian community now find a prominent place within that signifier provided they conform to a particular articulation of Indian identity and traditions. Consequently, certain minorities like Muslims and Christians find themselves excluded and increasingly erased from this terrain. We argue that this cultural conflation (of Indian with Hindu and wealthy), the product of particular socio-political and economic trends (Hindutva, global capital flows and regressive gender politics), further marginalises and often erases the experiences of religious minorities and the poor who do not fit this constructed norm, a trend that is indicative of the restricting of the national imaginary.

Source of Abstract: Provided by Publisher

See Also:
Tools:

Kamat Reference Database

Kamat's Potpourri Research Database Abstracts

.

© 1995-2024 Kamat's Potpourri All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without prior permission. Some disclaimers apply.