TheDaak review

Book: Film, Media, And Representation in Postcolonial South Asia Beyond Partition, Edited by Nukhbah Taj Langah and Roshni Sengupta, London, Routledge, 2022, 242 pages,  ISBN:9781003167655, $136

by Durdanah Masoodi

The book Film, Media, and Representation in Postcolonial South Asia Beyond Partition provides a more nuanced understanding about politics, media, and films; set in the backdrop of the South Asian context. As the title of the book suggests, it provides the reader an insight beyond the recurrent theme of partition. Films, cinema or media are a part of popular culture and have gained traction in academics today.  This edited volume uniquely attempts to initiate a conversation and presents a vivid picture of the relationship between cinema, media and politics.  Centering around partition, the book is divided into three parts discussing cinema, art, and cyberspace. The book pointedly discusses how various modes of communication like media, art, and digital spaces have shaped and influenced discourses on identities, memories, and remembrance. 

Cinematic spaces both create and stereotype identities. Cinema is able to do so because it recognises  elements of plasticity associated with identities. The concept of ‘plasticity’ is addressed by Sudipta Kaviraj (1997). It connotes that identities are fluid and can be moulded in the way desired by the hegemon. Institutions act as a major hegemonic force to do so, either through institutional capabilities or through the support of the public, one such institution being cinema.  In the case of films, Bollywood has lent an open space for the formation of the same moulded identities especially in the context of Muslims and more specifically, the Kashmiri Muslims. The book draws on this with the work of Rachel Dweyer who argues, “Bollywood reflects peoples’ histories and histories can shape their views and attitudes towards politics.” (p. 11) Furthermore, the book introduces Khatun’s recognition that  “Specific popular Bollywood films in the historical genre have dealt with the liminality of the Muslim ‘other’ in the nation-space by either representing Muslims in stereotypical ways or by vilifying their image” (p. 12).

Speaking about  Kashmir in the preface, Claire Pamment elucidates the soft power Bollywood holds. The movies like Fanna, Yahaan, Lamha, Mission Kashmir, and Kashmir Ki Kali are just a few examples that depict how mainstream Bollywood has presented Kashmir and the Kashmiris to the audience. The audience viewed the ‘Bollywood created image’ of Kashmir and the Kashmiris both spatially and demographically. The valley and its people have been used as one of the means by Bollywood to sustain the idea of India. Julia Szivak writes specifically about  “the films work towards reinforcing the dominant state narrative on the Kashmir insurgency” (p. 19).

Films shot in Kashmir have always put two images before their audience. The first is a peaceful place with a cinematographic focus on mountains and rivers, sidelining the disputed side. An example of this image is ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ (p. 22). Another image shows the dilemma between the conflict and the beauty of the valley, but ends the movie blaming the individual Kashmiri, who is thought to be brainwashed, and the need for the state’s assistance to be corrected. For example, Fanaa and Mission Kashmir (p. 23, 24). In both cases, the cinema wins through its capacity to penetrate a large section of the audience. What is shown does not match the ground reality. “The cinematic interpretation of the Kashmir insurgency was portrayed as a law and order problem and not as an aggregation of valid political claims” (p. 22). Doing so formulated a different vision of the Kashmiris, as  incapacitated people unable to think for themselves, thus in need of the superior other.  

The overall image of ‘the Muslim’ depicted in Bollywood is a medium to comprehend the biased narratives propagated against them. It was only with the film Haider that Kashmir was tried to be viewed from a different lens in mainstream Bollywood, invoking different emotions contrary to the traditional portrayal. Nishat Haider contributes “while the film predominantly charts the trajectories of the major characters within the original play, the political issues in Haider are transferred to the complex politics of Kashmir” (p. 34). 

The case of Kolkata theatre is distinct, where  “the dominant trend noticed is the absence of partition narratives” (p. 46). The absence of such narratives has pushed and helped fuel communal sentiments. This is done through efforts to present a glamorized picture of each other’s socio-economic gains, the tussle of such competition inflames a call of threat among various identities. Such threatened groups in fact need the ‘other’, because power can be authorized properly in that sense. The ‘other’ in this process is further dehumanized. Dehumanisation becomes banal and is reinforced by what Mamdani (2020) calls the ‘neglect of addressing the root cause and political reform’. And that is what Cinema has majorly reduced the Muslim identity to – the identity picked to get fame and then its dimensions cherry picked to defame the same.

The book further focuses on the role of media. Media, primarily television, is influential in shaping opinions. The power of the screen is deemed to produce expected and unexpected consequences. There is no dearth of material that can be presented to the public through TV. On the other hand, the “role of the audience in shaping the media agenda is also vital” (p. 71). No state would want the most appealing modes of communication to turn against them, hence, maintaining integrity becomes a tough task. Despite curtailment, the media has at times played an exemplary role. For example, the role of the media in the case of the Panama Papers was profound as “it informed the global audience about financial corruption in many different countries” (p. 72).

Art and visual means are also strong carriers of remembrance. The book leaves one in awe while going through the sections on art and visual mode because they remind one of the capacities that such media hold in preserving memories. The works of artists like Paresher, Satish Gujral, Imran Channa, Bani Abidi, and Tayeba Begum Lipi discussed by Kamayani Kumar and Shruti Parthasarathy are nothing less than realizations. They make one reassess the importance of paintings and drawings. It is not merely the artist moving the pencil, but the movement of both thought and hand to finally decide what they go ahead with. Photographs as a medium are another profound example which “draw affective associations between readers and a past they did not experience” (p. 106).

The book finally deals with emerging cyberspaces that have created and recreated discourses on identities. The melange of concepts associated with identities is further used in these spaces to tarnish images of individuals or communities or degrade people. The ease of knowledge and communication with all the communities worldwide has reinforced differences, discriminations, stereotypes, etc. Debanjana Nayak points out that, “the lens of the journalist’s camera casts a distinct gaze on individuals which then extends to the print media, electronic media, and digital media” (p. 162). It is not just an individual that gets politicised through gazes of different forms of media, “rather the gaze is directed towards the body of a country with whom the self is at war and also in love” (p. 166). Apart from acting as a surveillance site, digital platforms have provided immense space for people to express their anger.

The various modes of displaying popular narratives and sentiments like films, art, and digital space have scope to further discourses. They can tilt the narratives to any side as desired.Restating Julia Szivak, “films do not even attempt to present precise accounts of history, but they build on the capacity of the medium to invoke emotions and depict history in a holistic way” (p. 20). Similarly, other mediums also infuse energy among the audience which shapes politics and thus, the opinions of the public. 

This book helps one to comprehend many tailored concepts surrounding cinema and media. However,one cannot negate that the language used is complicated. It takes the postmodernist lens to analyze, the episteme of which is not easily comprehensible. Nonetheless, the bracing insights makes the book unique in itself. This volume revolves around the ability of films to capture life, the ability of photographs to generate memories, besides the biases/ inequalities created by cinema and media but also standing as torch bearer in some cases. All this and much more can be derived from this read.

References

Kaviraj, Sudipta. (1997). Religion and Identity in India. Ethnic and Racial Studies 20(2):  325-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.1997.9993964.

Mamdani, Mahmood. (2020). Neither Settler nor Native. London, England: Belknap Press.

Disclaimer: The book “Film, Media, And Representation in Postcolonial South Asia Beyond Partition”, Edited by Nukhbah Taj Langah and Roshni Sengupta as stated, is an edited volume. The review has focused selectively on keen and interesting themes from the book, at the discretion of the contributor. 

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