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Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A Case of UMT Students

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The aim of the research was to investigate the impact of Bollywood movies on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani youth. A rise has been observed in Bollywood movies showing historical bias and errors when it comes to portraying Muslim historical figures. The objective we needed to achieve was to see whether these movies had a positive or negative impact on the Islamic sentiments of Pakistani Youth. A quantitative method was employed, and a survey was conducted, using convenience sampling. A questionnaire was formulated and then 100 questionnaires were distributed among UMT students, 50 being male and 50 being female. Convenience sampling was employed. Framing and agenda-setting theories were employed. The findings suggest that Bollywood movies portray Muslim characters in a negative light and role, and through this, they have hurt the Islamic sentiments of youth. The study also suggested that Muslim historical figures were falsely portrayed which indeed hurt the Islamic sentiments of Pakistani Youth.
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Citation:
Nasir, N. U. A., Shaukat, R., & Asif, D. (2022).
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on
the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A Case of UMT
Students.
Global Digital & Print Media Review
,
V
(II), 198-210.
https://doi.org/10.31703/gdpmr.2022(V-II).18
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Vol.
V,
No.
II (Spring 2022)
§
Pages:
198210
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p- ISSN:
2788-4988
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e-ISSN:
2788-4945
§
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gdpmr.2022(V-II).18 !
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Noor Ul Ain Nasir *
|
Rabia Shaukat
|
Dawood Asif
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic
Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A Case of UMT Students
Abstract:
The aim of the research was to investigate the impact of
Bollywood movies on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani youth. A rise has
been observed in Bollywood movies showing historical bias and errors when
it comes to portraying Muslim historical figures. The objective we needed
to achieve was to see whether these movies had a positive or negative impact
on the Islamic sentiments of Pakistani Youth. A quantitative method was
employed, and a survey was conducted, using convenience sampling. A
questionnaire was formulated and then 100 questionnaires were distributed
among UMT students, 50 being male and 50 being female. Convenience
sampling was employed. Framing and agenda-setting theories were
employed. The findings suggest that Bollywood movies portray Muslim
characters in a negative light and role, and through this, they have hurt the
Islamic sentiments of youth. The study also suggested that Muslim historical
figures were falsely portrayed which indeed hurt the Islamic sentiments of
Pakistani Youth.
Contents
§ Introduction
§ Statement of the Problem
§ Purpose of the Study
§ Research Questions
§ Hypothesis
§ Literature Review
§ Framing Theory
§ Conclusion
§ References
Key Words:
Introduction
A research was conducted in order to get a better
understanding of the representation of Muslim
characters in Bollywood movies to analyze the
concealed signals and messages inside Bollywood
movies, and to see the religious conflict as well.
The bias of Indian media, which portrays and
plays Muslim and Pakistani characters as
terrorists and people with bad intentions, has
been sufficiently explained by researchers. It has
been investigated and argued that using
*
Lecturer, School of Media and Communication Studies, University of Management and Technology,
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Email: noorulain@umt.edu.pk
(Corresponding Author)
PhD Scholar, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
M.Phil. Scholar, Department of Communication and Media Studies, University of Sargodha, Punjab,
Pakistan.
stereotypes in Bollywood films sends a message
to its audience that keeps stoking the fires of
already-existing conflicts. The number and
quantity of movies in which Muslims are
portrayed as negative, brutal and rouge are
greater than the number of movies in which
Muslims are portrayed as people with positive
intent and state of mind (Ali, Chaudhry, Aslam &
Faridi, 2012).
In general, movies set trends and influence how
people think and feel. Civilizations are affected
Muslims, Indian Cinema, Islamic Sentiment, Pakistani Youth, UMT, Bollywood Movies
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A
Case of UMT Students
Vol. V, No. II (Spring 2022)
199
significantly by it. A concept can be transferred
from one society to another if it is compelling
enough to win out in that society. The Indian film
industry began to portray and exhibit Muslims as
extremists after the 9/11 attacks by using this
incident to its advantage. From there, an increase
was seen in the Bollywood industry that had
portrayed Muslims as suspicious-looking people
with a negative mindset. The Indian cinema
industry added fuel to the fire by producing
movies about Muslims, which displayed them as
terrorists (Khan & Bokhari, 2011).
It was suggested that Indian nationalism and
culture were overly depicted as Hindu
nationalism and culture and that this
majoritarian construction required the minority
"Other" to support this idea of nationalism and
culture. Bollywood has developed into a
significant tool for promoting nationalism. One
of Hindu chauvinism's most divisive topics in the
modern period is love jihad. Muslims have often
been characterized as "Others" in Bollywood by
making them seem enigmatic. Bollywood
filmmakers have been charged with promoting
love jihad through their works, citing Jodha
Akbar and Bajrangi Bhaijaan as examples
(Khatun, 2018).
Overall, a 46% high level of Hindutva was
found in Hindi movies. Bollywood has become a
mouthpiece of the BJP and RSS. Padmaavat,
Bajirao Mastani and Tanhaji were based on
misrepresentation, alteration and false portrayal
of history (Ansari & Shafiq, 2020).
The study examines how often and how
frequently Bollywood depicts and displays the
Islamic sign with a negative image; Muslims are
shown as being suspicious, doubting, and
sceptical people as well as extremists and
terrorists. Bollywood portrays and characterizes
Muslims as feudal landlords, villains, and
criminals while using cultural icons like "beard"
and "cap" to show and portray Muslim characters,
resulting in a stereotypical image of Muslims.
(Ahmad, 2014).
When it comes to the viewership of
Bollywood, it is quite popular in the sub-
continent and has an almost equal ratio of
viewership from Pakistan. It was understood
from the analysis that the number of movies
depicting Muslims as barbaric and scoundrel-like
is greater in comparison to the number of movies
depicting Muslims in a positive light and frame of
mind (Bhat, 2019).
Statement of the Problem
Cinema is an influential medium in cultivating
ideas and generating thoughts. Bollywood
particularly has vast viewership and a huge
number of followers. This research study focuses
on getting hands-on information from Pakistani
youth regarding how they feel about Muslim
characters being portrayed in Bollywood movies.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to determine and
examine whether the Islamic sentiments of
Pakistani youth are influenced positively or
negatively by the portrayal of Muslim Characters
in Bollywood Movies. After 9/11 and the war on
terror led by the USA, a large number of movies
were seen in which Muslims were displayed as
the terrorists or as the 'Others'. Research
objective
§ To evaluate the impact of the portrayal of
Muslim Characters in Bollywood movies
on the Islamic sentiments of youth.
§ To analyze whether or not it has any
implications.
§ To examine the portrayal of Historical
Muslim characters in Bollywood Movies.
Research Questions
§ To what extent Muslim characters are
portrayed as "Bad guys" in Bollywood
movies?
§ How the Islamic sentiments of Pakistani
youth are influenced by the portrayal of
Muslim characters in Bollywood movies?
§ To what extent Muslim historical figures
are portrayed correctly in Bollywood
movies?
Hypothesis
H1:
Muslims are falsely portrayed in
Bollywood Movies
H2:
Bollywood Movies have a negative impact
on Islamic sentiments
Noor Ul Ain Nasir, Rabia Shaukat and Dawood Asif
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Global Digital & Print Media Review (GDPMR)
H3:
Muslims are portrayed as terrorists in
Bollywood movies
H4:
Muslims are portrayed as uncultured
beings in Bollywood movies
Literature Review
Media is a prominent social, cultural and
communal agent having the potential to influence
society’s perceptions and views. The study
examined and discovered how in Victoria the
print media depicted and represented Muslims
and Islam in the news and its news stories from
11 September 2001 until 31 December 2004. This
study focused on and examined to what extent
negative images of Islam were reproduced in the
pages of the Age and the Herald Sun newspapers.
The aim was to understand the ways that the
media played a role in influencing opinions and
perceptions on Islam and Muslims in the broader
community and how they do in response to
specific events or incidents at home or away. A
database of 451 news content was selected and
finalized out of 1200 when searched. Both
Qualitative and Quantitative analysis was
implemented as the methodology. It was
indicated that the newspapers were not
Islamophobic but the depiction of Muslims and
Islam was not problem free. It was concluded that
there exists a high degree of unawareness among
the Australian public towards Islam and Muslims
(Akbarzadeh & Smith, 2005).
After 9/11, Islam became heavily politicized,
and Islamophobia has since expanded,
particularly in Hollywood and the news media.
The construction of Islamophobia in three case
studies has been seen and examined using
theories like stereotyping, othering, orientalism,
and a methodology based on film studies. Three
Hollywood filmsThe Hurt Locker, American
Sniper, and Zero Dark Thirtyare the subjects of
the case study. It was established that the three
films discriminated against Muslims and Arabs
by using offensive language and faking various
visual elements like shadows, highlights, and
colour (Veldhausz, 2017).
The Study aims to find out the portrayal of
Muslim images in a negative light through the
source of media, the research tool applied is
critical discourse analysis to analyze two
Hollywood movies and Fairclough's (1989) three-
dimensional models are applied to those
dialogues to get a correct analyzed result. It was
concluded that Hollywood films did misrepresent
Muslim characters and tagged them as terrorists
to show a negative portrayal through films
(Aemen, 2018).
According to the study, it became quite
obvious and evident after viewing a number of
television programmes between 2001 and 2009
that authors have boosted the production of
positive Arab and Muslim characters to show and
show that they are sensitive when it comes to
negative stereotyping. Sympathetic depictions of
Arabs and Muslims on US television increased
after 9/11 (Alsultany, 2013).
The portrayal of Muslims in Indian Films and
especially in Hindi cinema has experienced a
number of various shifts in response to the
sociopolitical conditions of the era. This paper
implemented textual and qualitative
methodology by conducting unstructured in-
depth interviews with producers and film critics.
The Study explains that Popular Bollywood films
have been dealing with the misperception of the
Muslim ‘other’ in India by portraying Muslims in
a stereotypical manner. Four major points
dominate the exhibition scheme in Muslim
political cinema: “the Muslim ‘Other’ as an
enemy of the nation; an imaginary notion of
monolithic ‘Hindu-ized nation’; Muslims as a
source of terror and extremism within the
country or state; a conflation of Muslim-terrorist-
Pakistani” (Khatun, 2016).
The study's goal was to examine films from
Bollywood that had subliminal signals about
religious conflict. The study went on to explain
Indians' prejudice by demonstrating how they
depict Muslims and Pakistanis in their films as
terrorists and people with a bad attitude.
Purposive sampling was utilized in this study,
which was based on a qualitative examination of
well-known Bollywood films. The study came to
the conclusion that there are more and more films
portraying Muslims as brutal, negative, and rogue
than there are portraying Muslims as having a
positive intent and state of mind (Ali, Chaudhry,
Aslam & Faridi, 2012).
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A
Case of UMT Students
Vol. V, No. II (Spring 2022)
201
Theoretical Framework
Framing Theory
Framing describes the process by which people
acquire a certain conceptualization of an issue or
alter their thoughts towards a conflict or an issue.
The major idea and principle of framing theory
are that a problem, conflict or issue can be seen
from a variety of perspectives (Chong&
Druckman, 2007).
The cinema offers much more than just
amusement. Over the course of the 20th century,
cinema literacy has risen to become the dominant
force in cultural literacy. TV and movies, which
manipulate the various spirals of the western
imagination, have become a major factor in
forming the preconceptions and opinions of the
general public about their environment (Sardar &
Davies, 2010).
Framing contains a source of communication
presenting and defining a problem or an issue.
One major influential way to shape public
opinion is through framing events and issues in a
very particular or specific way (Vreese, 2005).
Relevance to Study
The study under consideration is trying to
identify in what frame Bollywood movies are
representing Muslim characters. Framing theory
with this research study is undeniable. Since the
partition, Pakistan and India have fought many
wars and battles. By reviewing the literature, it
shows that in Bollywood, Hindutva ideology is
prevailing and Muslims are being seen from a
narrow lens. Bollywood's representation and
depiction of the Muslim image have been carried
out in a negative, disapproved and Judgmental
manner that takes root from the strong basis of
its stories in a Hindu majority setting (Kumar,
2013).
Methodology
There are two types of research methods:
§ Quantitative method.
§ Qualitative method
Researchers have chosen a quantitative survey
method as part of their use of quantitative
methodology to conduct research.
Survey Method
Data is gathered and collected in a standardized
form. It happens frequently but it is not essential
that it be done by means of questionnaires or
interviews, surveys, or polls. It is designed to
provide a picture that how things appear at a
specific time (Kelley, Clark, & Brown, 2003).
A survey is not just a method to gather and
collect specific and particular material or
information, questionnaires are broadly used but
other tools such as structured and in-depth
interviews, observation and content analysis are
also included in this method (Vaus, 2013).
Universe
All the students of UMT are included.
Population
Students of BS and MS
Sample
From the BSc and MA students at UMT, a sample
of 100 questionnaires was drawn. In this study,
the researcher created a questionnaire with
structured questions that go from general to
specific. The below strata show that 25 per cent
of students are from Bachelors (Male) and 25 per
cent belonging to Bachelors (Female) whereas 25
Percent of Students belong to Master (Male) and
25 per cent belonging to Masters (Female) which
makes our sample set to a 100 through
stratification.
Question
A structured questionnaire was formulated. It
had 16 close-ended Questions that were asked
from the students of UMT starting from general
to specific. The Likert scale was employed.
Unit of Analysis
For analysis, the Google Forms method was used.
Moreover, every respondent has been
individually analyzed.
Data Analysis
The purpose and aim of the study are to find
whether Bollywood Movies are having an impact
Noor Ul Ain Nasir, Rabia Shaukat and Dawood Asif
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Global Digital & Print Media Review (GDPMR)
on the Islamic sentiments of Pakistani youth. To
get the answers 100 questionnaires were
distributed and filled out by students of UMT.
Here is the table that shows the number of
students who attempted this questionnaire and
the total number of respondents
Table 1.
Demographics
Gender
Students
Male
50
Female
50
Total
100
Total
100
Above is the frequency and percentage of the
student who attempted this question. The above
table shows that 50 per cent of Male students, 50
per cent of Female students, and all those students
are from different departments.
Figure: 1
Table 2.
Demographics
Education
Students
Bachelors
50
Master
50
Above is the frequency and percentage of the
respondents who attempted this question. The
above table shows that 50 per cent of Students are
from Bachelor's and 50 per cent are from Master's
Degree programs and all those students are from
different departments so; all those students have
their different opinion about these statements,
which are given below.
Figure 2
Statement 1
I think the Image of Muslims in Bollywood
Movies is
Here is given the table of this question to explain
the answer to this question in terms of frequency
and per cent and then is given the graphs to
elaborate more on the opinion of students about
this statement.
Table 3.
From above table 5.3, it is clear that a majority of
52 per cent of respondents were of the opinion
that the Image of Muslims in Bollywood Movies
is indeed Very Distorted. Whereas at the same
time also 30 per cent of the respondents were of
the opinion that the image of Muslims was just
distorted and 16 per cent of respondents were of
no opinion. Whereas only an insignificant
number of respondents, which happen to be at 2
per cent respondents that were of the opinion that
the image of Muslims shown in Bollywood is
accurate and none of the respondents went with
Very Accurate. Hence Hypothesis, “H1: Muslims
are falsely portrayed in Bollywood Movies" has
been proven and accepted.
50%50%
Gender
Male
Female
50%50%
Education
Bachelors
Masters
Scale
F
%
Very Distorted
52
52
Distorted
30
30
Nor Distorted Neither
Accurate
16
16
Accurate
2
2
Very Accurate
0
0
Total
100
100.0
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A
Case of UMT Students
Vol. V, No. II (Spring 2022)
203
Figure 3
Statement 2
I Feel some Bollywood Movies are Creating
Religious Segregation among Muslims and
Hindus
Then comes the second statement; in this
statement, the researcher tries to know the
opinion of respondents regarding whether
Bollywood movies are creating religious
segregation among Muslims and Hindus.
Table 4.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Strongly Disagree
10
10
Disagree
1
1
Neutral
14
14
Agree
47
47
Strongly Agree
28
28
Total
100
100.0
According to the above data, 47% of respondents
agreed with the statement, "I feel some
Bollywood movies are encouraging religious
isolation among Muslims and Hindus," while
only 28% of respondents strongly agreed with it.
The remaining 14% of respondents were neutral.
While 10% of the respondents strongly disagreed
with the notion that some Indian films are
fostering religious division between Muslims and
Hindus, Additionally, 1% of respondents
disagreed with this assertion.
Figure 4
Statement 3
I think that Bollywood Movies are Presenting
Muslims as
Then comes the third statement, in this statement
also researcher tries to know the respondents'
opinion regarding the presentation of Muslims in
Bollywood movies.
Table 5.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Terrorists
79
79
Anti-India
9
9
Neutral
9
9
Anti-Pakistan
2
2
Pro India
1
1
Total
100
100.0
The majority of the respondents of which were 79
per cent believed that Bollywood Movies
presented Muslims as terrorists, whereas a few of
them, around 9 per cent believed that Bollywood
portrayed Muslims as Anti-India also another 9
per cent remained neutral about it. An
insignificant number of respondents around 2 per
cent believed Muslims were presented as Anti-
Pakistan and 1 per cent were of the opinion that
the portrayal of Muslims was Pro-India. Hence
the hypothesis, “H3: Muslims are portrayed as
terrorists in Bollywood movies” has been
accepted.
52%
30%
16%
2%
0%
I think Image of Muslims in Bollywood
Movies are.
Very Distorted
Distorted
Nor Distorted
Neither Accurate
Accurate
Very Accurate
10%
1%
14%
47%
28%
I feel some Bollywood movies are
creating religious segregation
among Muslims and Hindus.
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
Noor Ul Ain Nasir, Rabia Shaukat and Dawood Asif
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Global Digital & Print Media Review (GDPMR)
Figure 5
Statement 4
I think that Bollywood Movies are Presenting
Muslim Omen as
Table 6.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Very Oppressed
31
31
Oppressed
42
42
Nor Oppressed
Neither Liberated
17
17
Liberated
8
8
Very Liberated
2
2
Total
100
100.0
It was observed that 42 per cent of the
respondents were of the view that Bollywood
movies indeed presented Muslim Women as
Oppressed in Muslim Societies, whereas 31 per
cent were of the opinion that Muslim Women are
presented as very oppressed. While 17 Percent of
the respondents remained neutral about their
position on whether Muslim Women are
presented as oppressed or not, an insignificant
minority in which 8 per cent told that they were
shown as liberated and 2 per cent as very
liberated in Bollywood Movies.
Figure 6
Statement 5
By Watching Bollywood Movies in which
Muslims are Presented as Terrorists, I feel
Table 7.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Very Offended
57
57
Offended
31
31
Neutral
7
7
Less Offended
4
4
Not at all Offended
1
1
Total
100
100.0
57 per cent of the entire sample believed that they
felt very offended when Muslims were being
portrayed as terrorists in Bollywood movies, and
a significant minority which is of 31 per cent is of
opinion that they felt offended by Bollywood
presenting Muslims as terrorists. The
insignificant minority of 7 per cent remained
neutral, while 4 per cent did not get much
offended and 1 per cent did not get offended at
all. Hence the hypothesis, "H2: Bollywood Movies
have a negative impact on Islamic sentiments
has been accepted and proved.
Figure 7
79%
9%
9% 2%
1%
I think that Bollywood movies are
presenting Muslims as
Terrorists
Anti-India
Neutral
Anti-Pakistan
Pro India
31%
42%
17%
8%
2%
I think that Bollywood Movies are
presenting Muslim women in as
Very Opressed
Oppressed
Nor Oppressed Neither
Liberated
Liberated
Very Liberated
57%
31%
7% 4%
1%
By watching Bollywood movies in
which Muslims are presented as
terrorist i feel
Very Offended
Offended
Neutral
Less Offended
Not at all
Offended
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A
Case of UMT Students
Vol. V, No. II (Spring 2022)
205
Statement 6
I think Kashmiri Muslims in Bollywood
Movies are being Portrayed in a
Table 8.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Very Negative Light
36
36
Negative Light
49
49
Neutral
13
13
Positive Light
1
1
Very Positive Light
1
1
Total
100
100.0
It was observed that 49 per cent of the
respondents thought that Kashmiri Muslims are
being portrayed in a negative light, while 36 per
cent was of the opinion that they were portrayed
in a very negative light. Whereas 13 per cent
remained neutral, 1 per cent thought Kashmiris'
portrayal in Bollywood movies was in a positive
light and another 1 per cent thought that it was
in a very positive light.
Figure 8
Statement 7
I Feel Historical Muslim Characters in
Bollywood Movies are
Table 9.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Falsely Portrayed
47
47
Somewhat False
41
41
Somewhat Accurate
12
12
Accurately Portrayed
0
0
Total
100
100.0
It was examined that 47 per cent of the
respondents believed that historical Muslim
characters in Bollywood are falsely portrayed,
whereas 41 per cent of respondents are of the
opinion that the portrayal was not completely but
somewhat false. On the other hand, 12 per cent of
respondents were of the opinion that the
portrayal of historical Muslim Characters was
somewhat accurate, and none of the respondents
was of the opinion of accurate portrayal of
historical Muslim characters.
Figure 9
Statement 8
To What Extent do you feel that Muslims
are presented as uncultured people in
Bollywood Movies?
Table 10.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Very Much
34
34
Much
29
29
Moderate
27
27
Less
7
7
Very Less
1
1
Total
100
100.0
It was observed that 34 per cent of the
respondents thought to a very great extent that
Muslims were presented as uncultured people; 29
per cent agreed to a much extent that Bollywood
movies portrayed Muslims as uncultured people.
While 27 per cent of respondents remained
Moderate, 7 per cent felt to a less extent, the
presentation of Muslims as uncultured and 1 per
cent felt to a very less extent. Hence the
47%
41%
12%
0%
I Feel Historical Muslim Characters in
Bollywood Movies are
Falsely Portrayed
Somewhat False
Somewhat
Accurate
Accurately
Portrayed
36%
49%
13%
1%
1%
I think Kashmiri Muslims in
Bollywood movies are being
portrayed in a
Very Negative
Light
Negative Light
Neutral
Positive Light
Noor Ul Ain Nasir, Rabia Shaukat and Dawood Asif
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Global Digital & Print Media Review (GDPMR)
hypothesis, “H4: Muslims are portrayed as
uncultured beings in Bollywood movies" has been
proven and accepted.
Figure 10
Statement 9
I think Kashmiri Muslims are represented in
Bollywood Movies as
Table 11.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Anti-India
31
31
Militants
18
18
Neutral
22
22
Anti-Pakistan
24
24
Pro-India
5
5
Total
100
100.0
The respondents remained divided and a
diversity in opinion was observed, 31 respondents
thought that Kashmiri Muslims were being
represented and portrayed as Anti-India whereas,
on the contrary, 24 per cent was of the opinion
that Kashmiris' portrayal was Anti-Pakistan.
While 22 per cent of the respondents remained
neutral, 18 per cent were of the opinion that
Bollywood Movies portrayed them as militants
and few as much as five per cent thought the
representation was Pro-India.
Figure 11
Statement 10
I think that Bollywood Movies Portray
Pakistanis as
Table 12.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Terrorist
64
64
Anti-India
21
21
Neutral
14
14
Friendly Neighbors
1
1
Peace Lovers
0
0
Total
100
100.0
It was examined that 64 per cent of the
respondents believed that Pakistanis were
portrayed as terrorists in Bollywood Movies,
whereas 21 per cent was of the opinion that
Pakistani portrayal was Anti-India. While 14 per
cent remained neutral, only 1 per cent was of the
opinion that Pakistanis were portrayed as
friendly neighbours. None of the respondents was
of the opinion that Pakistanis were portrayed as
peace lovers.
31%
18%
22%
24%
5%
I think Kashmiri Muslims are
represented in Bollywood movies as
Anti-India
Militants
Neutral
Anti-
Pakistan
34%
29%
27%
7%
3%
To What extent do you feel that
Muslims are presented as uncultured
people in Bollywood Movies
Very Much
Much
Moderate
Less
Very Less
64%
21%
14% 1%
0%
I think that Bollywood Movies
Portrays Pakistani's as
Terrorist
Anti-India
Neutral
Figure 12
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A
Case of UMT Students
Vol. V, No. II (Spring 2022)
207
Statement 11
I Feel that Muslim Characters shown in
Bollywood Movies have Some Kind of
Connection with Pakistan
Table 13.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Strongly Disagree
14
14
Disagree
21
21
Neutral
24
24
Agree
29
29
Strongly Agree
12
12
Total
100
100.0
Opinions remained divided and diversity was
observed in which 29 per cent agreed that Muslim
Characters shown in Bollywood had some kind of
a connection with Pakistan and only 12 per cent
strongly agreed with the statement. Whereas 24
per cent remained unbiased and neutral, 21 per
cent disagreed with the statement and 14 per cent
strongly disagreed with this.
Figure 13
Statement 12
Bollywood Movies represent Surma, Scarf
and Shalwar Kameez as Stereotypes for a
Muslim Attire
Table 14.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Strongly Disagree
6
6
Disagree
4
4
Neutral
15
15
Agree
34
34
Strongly Agree
41
41
Total
100
100.0
It was observed that 41 per cent of the entire
sample strongly agreed that Bollywood movies
represent surma, scarf and shalwar kameez as
stereotypes for Muslim attire, whereas 34 per cent
agreed with the statement and 15 per cent
remained neutral. Few respondents around six
per cent strongly disagreed and 4 per cent
disagreed that Bollywood movies portrayed
surma, Scarf and shalwar kameez as stereotypes
for Muslim attire.
Figure 14
Statement 13
I think Bollywood Movies Uses of Specific
elements Such as Shalwar Kameez, Surma
or Scarf to Introduce a Bigoted Muslim
Character.
Table 15.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Strongly Disagree
6
6
Disagree
7
7
Neutral
12
12
Agree
47
47
Strongly Agree
28
28
Total
100
100.0
14% 21%
24%
29%
12%
I feel that Muslim Characters shown
in Bollywood Movies have some kind
of connection with Pakistan
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
6%
4%
15%
34%
41%
Bollywood Movies represents Surma,
Scarf and Shalwar Kameez as
stereotypes for a Muslim attire
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Noor Ul Ain Nasir, Rabia Shaukat and Dawood Asif
208
Global Digital & Print Media Review (GDPMR)
The Majority of respondents that is 47 per cent
agreed with the statement at hand that Bollywood
Movies represent surma, scarf and shalwar
kameez to introduce bigoted Muslim characters.
Whereas 28 per cent strongly agreed with the
statement, a few respondents from which 12 per
cent remained of no opinion and remained
neutral as 7 per cent strongly disagreed with this
notion and 6 per cent disagreed.
Figure 15
Statement 14
To what Extent do you Feel that
Stereotypical Characteristics are used to
Represent Muslims in Bollywood Movies?
Table 16.
Scale
Frequency
Percent
Very Much
44
44
Much
24
24
Moderate
26
26
Less
3
3
Very Less
3
3
Total
100
100.0
It was examined that 44 per cent of the
respondents thought to a very greater extent that
stereotypical characteristics are used to represent
Muslims in Bollywood movies; 24 per cent agreed
to a much extent that Bollywood movies
portrayed Muslims as uncultured people. While
26 per cent of respondents remained Moderate, 7
per cent felt to a less extent that stereotypical
characteristics are used to represent Muslims and
3 per cent felt it to a very less extent.
Figure 16
Discussion
In the current study, it was hypothesized that
Muslims were being falsely portrayed in
Bollywood Movies. The results showed that
Bollywood movies indeed played a role in
portraying Muslims falsely and the majority of
the respondents did believe that Bollywood
movies did shows a much-distorted image of
Muslims. From table 5.3 and figure 5.3 we see that
52% of respondents thought that the image of
Muslims in Bollywood Movies is very distorted
and 30% believed that the image being portrayed
by Bollywood movies was distorted. Therefore
hypothesis, “H1: Muslims are falsely portrayed in
Bollywood movies” has been proved by the
research study. Literature shows that Bollywood
presents a distorted and manipulated image of
Muslims and this leads to negative image
building. Bollywood is fogging and distorting the
Muslim image (Khan & Bokhari, 2011)
The findings suggested that Bollywood
Movies used stereotypical characteristics to
represent Muslims in Bollywood movies. From
table 5.16 it was clear that 44% of the highest
majority of students believed that Bollywood
movies used stereotypical characteristics to
6%
7%
12%
47%
28%
I think Bollywood Movies Uses of
specific elements such as Shalwar
Kameez, Surma Or Scarf to introduce
a Bigoted Muslim character.
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
Agree
44%
24%
26%
3%
3%
To what extent do you feel that
stereotypical characteristics are used
to represent Muslims in Bollywood
movies?
Very Much
Much
Moderate
Less
Very Less
Representation of Muslims in Indian Cinema and its Impact on the Islamic Sentiments of Pakistani Youth: A
Case of UMT Students
Vol. V, No. II (Spring 2022)
209
represent Muslims. Literature showed that The
Musalman portrayed by secular Bollywood has
no place for ambience and has been substituted
by the terrorists who wear Arab scarfs, wear
shalwar kameez, hold the AK 47 and carry out
terrorism (Deshpande, 2007).
The results suggested that 41 per cent of the
entire sample strongly agreed that Bollywood
movies represent surma, scarf and shalwar
kameez as stereotypes for Muslim attire, whereas
34 per cent agreed with the statement and 15 per
cent remained neutral. Few respondents around
six per cent strongly disagreed and 4 per cent
disagreed that Bollywood movies portrayed
surma, Scarf and shalwar kameez as stereotypes
for Muslim attire. Things such as cultural attire
have now been completely associated with
Muslims as religious attire.
This research presented a very diverse and
divided opinion on statement 11, "I feel that
Muslim characters shown in Bollywood movies
have some kind of connection with Pakistan", in
which the majority of respondents agreed that
Muslims shown in Bollywood movies did indeed
have some kind of connection with Pakistan.
Whereas also a significant part of the minority
remained neutral and disagreed, has discussed
that 29% agreed but a significant minority of 24%
remained neutral and 21% disagreed with the
statement.
The results indicate that Bollywood movies
portrayed Kashmiri Muslims in a negative light,
as indicated from statement 6, "I think Kashmiri
Muslims in Bollywood movies are being
portrayed in a negative light." And in table 5.8, it
was seen that a majority of 49% thought that they
were being portrayed in a negative light. While
36% also strongly agreed that Kashmiri Muslims
are being portrayed in a very negative light.
Whereas 13% remained, neutral and 1 per cent
believed that the portrayal was in a positive light.
Bollywood movies have shown numerous
time Muslims as terrorists and have connections
with terrorist outlets, the study also found and the
results revealed the hypothesis to be true that
Bollywood movies have presented Muslims as
terrorists. Hence the Hypothesis, "H3: Muslims
are portrayed as a terrorist in Bollywood movies"
has been proved in this research study. As
observed by table 5.5 and figure 5.5 the majority
of respondents of which 79% believed that
Muslims are being presented as terrorists in
Bollywood movies.
The results indicated and proved the
hypothesis, "H4: Muslims are portrayed as
Uncultured beings in the Bollywood movies" that
Muslims are presented as uncultured people in
Bollywood movies. From table 5.10 and figure
5.10, we see that the majority of students around
34% strongly agreed that Muslims are being
presented as uncultured people in Bollywood
Movies whereas 29% agreed with the statement.
Conclusion
From the result, it is concluded that Bollywood
has played a negative role and offended the
Islamic sentiments of Pakistani Youth and
Muslims were being falsely portrayed. It is only
because Bollywood is Secular but having a Hindu
Majority has its influences and showing
Pakistanis as Terrorists and Anti-Indian, it
indirectly has an influence on Muslim Characters
that are being portrayed in Bollywood movies.
Bollywood through repeated and continuous
portrayal is prompting stereotypes and false
representations.
We have seen that Bollywood has falsely
portrayed Historical Muslim Characters to prove
not only loyalty to the Hindutva ideology but also
to please the Hindu majority in a Secular India
which is against what India stands for, Kashmiris
being portrayed as militants to suppress the
Kashmiri plight and to offend the sentiments of
Muslims all over the world. Results have also
argued that Bollywood movies have portrayed
Muslim characters as uncivilized people which
makes it a false representation and portrayal,
which increases the negative image of Muslims
all over the world and continues to have negative
image building.
This gives a chance to other movie industries
to step in, make a change, and abolish such
practices of Muslims being the negative ones and
bad people just because of their religion.
Noor Ul Ain Nasir, Rabia Shaukat and Dawood Asif
210
Global Digital & Print Media Review (GDPMR)
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Construction of Differences through Movies: A Case Study of Portrayal of Kashmiri Muslims in Indian Movies
  • H Q Abbas
  • F T Zohra
Abbas, H. Q., & Zohra, F. T. (2013). Construction of Differences through Movies: A Case Study of Portrayal of Kashmiri Muslims in Indian Movies. Cross-Cultural Communication, 9(6), 35-39.
The Study Of Ideological Representation Of Muslims In Hollywood Cinema: Critical Discourse Analysis (Doctoral dissertation
  • A Aemen
Aemen, A. (2018). The Study Of Ideological Representation Of Muslims In Hollywood Cinema: Critical Discourse Analysis (Doctoral dissertation, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus.).