(Mis)Representation of Muslims in Contemporary Hindi Cinema: An Analysis of Rensil D'Silva's Kurbaan

Cinema as a medium plays a very significant role in any society, and the things represented in cinema have a significant impact on its populace. The portrayal of Muslims in Hindi cinema has drastically changed over time. In post-colonial Hindi cinema, the representation of Muslims was either as the emperors, Mughals, or prostitutes. However, this representation took a shift after the emolition of the Babri Masjid and the 9/11 attacks. This paper aims to analyze the transition of Muslims in Hindi cinema from the Mughals to the deadly terrorists. For this purpose, a detailed analysis of the Hindi movie Kurbaan is provided at the end of the paper.