Hindi Cinema and Pakistan

Ever since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent, Mumbai-based Hindi cinema has been returning compulsively to the idea of Pakistan, sometimes as the desirable other, sometimes as the horrifying antagonist. Hindi Cinema and Pakistan traces the genesis and development of this theme in Hindi cinema in the 1950s, showcasing its relevance as a tool that both reflects and shapes how India sees its neighbour, the Indiaâ"Pakistan relationship, and itself.

The book is a serious, multi-platform, multi-pronged exploration of the appearances, invocations, representations and treatment of Pakistan and Pakistanis in Hindi cinema. It follows Hindi cinemaâs efforts to come to terms with the âideaâ and ârealityâ of Pakistan. Through in-depth analyses of the enmity and rivalry between the two subcontinental nations in Partition films, thrillers, epic war films and sports films, to screen depictions of the shared cultural past and similarities in films on cross-border love or in films that show a reaching out through humour, this book investigates the visualization of Pakistan and contextualizes these representations within the broader frameworks of Indiaâs political, socio-cultural and popular discourse.

The extensive reach of the in-depth textual analyses of Hindi cinema will make this volume interesting and valuable both to the lay reader and to researchers and academics of cultural studies, media and film studies, and the study of socio-psychological violence in media and culture.