Bollywood and Identity BY ANGELINE
The question of national identity seems to be of growing prominence with increasing interdependence , growing population and unclear boundaries . Past few decades have witnessed some horrifying migration issues , gruesome terrorist activities and sanguinary ethnic clashes . All these events have made many countries across the globe to reconsider the question of identity . Cinema has been a popular medium of representing our culture to the world but it is also a medium for different communities to voice their opinion . Let us look into the journey of Bollywood and the representation of identity through such a medium . Indian popular cinema has been successful in creating a huge fan base not just in India but also across many countries . There are many Bollywood fan clubs in different countries and regional films too are picking up pace in establishing a global presence . YouTube is flooded with popular Indian movie and song reactions with dozens of foreigners reacting and giving their opinions on the videos . With such increasing influence of Indian cinema , the film industry should take on the responsibility of representing different sections and people of the society through mainstream media . India has a diverse culture and creating a national identity as an Indian is a tough challenge . National identity today across the world is not just limited to few identities but involves multiple ethnic identities interdependent and complex enough to be understood . Ethnic identities earlier were only limited to language , class or religion but today there are many other factors which include gender , age , environment etc . These new emerging identities only make it difficult for the existing communities to live in harmony with each other . The definition of ethnic and national identity still remains vague as it is not clear as to which identity a person will stick to in times of crisis . Bollywood has tried to capture the journey of national identity through different cinemas . It still remains a popular medium for many to put forward stories that voice the opinion of different identities in India . The first powerful flim that became popular among the public is Achhut Kanya ( 1936 ), the film which deals with the social position of Dalit girls and is considered a reformist period-piece . The film potrayed a strong Dalit girl character which is still considered to be an epic character in Indian film industry . The film came out at a time when India was under the British rule and British India was divided along caste lines and inter caste marriage was forbidden . Another movie along the same lines was released Sairat ( 2016 ), which dealt with the same issue . Both movies have portrayed strong protagonists who fight for their love despite been from a lower caste . The journey of such films on untouchables reminds us that nothing much has changed in all these years despite such development taking place in the country . Even today , honor killings take place in the name of inter-caste marriage . Clashes between communities in the name of caste domination and politicians banking on such opportunities to create their own vote banks is the harsh reality that still exists in our country . Movies like Eklavya , Omkara and Phoolan Devi reveal strong characters representing minorities . These movies tried representing the atrocities faced by the lower caste and intermingling of people despite their caste or religion and the tensions or conflict that comes forward as a result of it . Minorities are represented as struggling characters trying to change the society or bring about a revolutionary change in the society .