Shahrukh Khan and the Representation of Islam in His Movies - Essay Example

? Shahrukh khan and representation of Islam in his movies Table of contents ………………………………………………………… ……………..5 2. Introduction………………………………………………………………………6 3. Islamic Fundamentalism………………………………………………………….6 4. Role of media and Islam…………………............................................................7 5. Indian cinema (Bollywood) and Islam……………………………………………8 6. Shahrukh khan and his movies…………………....................................................9 7. Shahrukh khan and impact of Islam in his movies………………………………10 7.1 Veer Zaara and underlying mechanism……………………………………………....10 7.2 Shahrukh’s contribution…………………............................................................13 7.3 Message of the film…………………...................................................................13 7.4 Criticisms faced and public response…………………......................................14 8. My Name Is Khan and Islam………………….....................................................14 8.1 Biased feelings …………………........................................................................16 8.2 Message of the film…………………..................................................................17 8.3 Shahrukh khan and My Name Is Khan…………………....................................18 9. Hey Ram …………………...................................................................................18 Conclusion………………….....................................................................................19 Acknowledgements The paper is very grateful to the governmental organizations of the country who have granted permission for writing an essay on such a topic. I would like to thank my scholars and professors who have helped me out with various books and articles for writing the essay on this topic. Mention should also be made of the other members without whom my project could not have been completed. Abstract As the title states this paper encompasses around the mega Bollywood star Shahrukh khan’s movies and the interpretation of Islam in them. Firstly the paper focuses on the crux of Islamic fundamentalism and their principles. Then the focus is entailed on the significant role of media and their policies to change the angle of representation of readers and viewers about societal facts and information. In this part the dominant role of media in representing Islam is also concentrated. Moving on to the next section limelight is given on the role of Bollywood and the influence of Islam in them. Then the core discussion is about Shahrukh khan’s movies and the impact of Islam in them. Three outstanding movies of Shahrukh have been adopted for this purpose as for example Veer Zaara, My Name is Khan and Hey Ram. In Veer Zaara, a marvelous cross cultural love story ahead of its times and the impact of religion and the message of communal harmony has been beautifully spun. Public responses are also shown. Then a plethora of in detailed explanation of the representation of Islam and Shahrukh khan’s most acclaimed film ,’My Name Is Khan’ has been provided. Finally ending a short discussion is also given about the movie Hey Ram where Shahrukh khan played a small role of Muslim archaeologist where also Islam has a vivid significance. 1. Introduction Shahrukh Khan, recognized as the king of Bollywood with a huge fan base, is the world’s one of the most popular movie persona in the modern times. From a new comer in the film industry with no god father behind and with tremendous passion and complex understanding for movies have made him reach the summit of success. He reigns over the hearts of millions as a romantic hero for which he is initially recognized with his super hit films running over a decade in a theatre in India. But with experience he experimented with different shades of characters in his movies where the impact of Islam has been predominant. Communal tensions among transnational boundaries have been the prime source of evolution of violence among different classes of people. Islamic fundamentalism many times have been related to violence and terrorism which is discussed briefly in the latter sections of the paper. Shahrukh Khan, a Muslim by religion, through his movies, has portrayed the notion of true Islamism and his belief towards Islam in a dynamic way. The role of media has also played a significant part in this phenomenon. Further brief discussion in the following sections and subsections will focus on the theme of the paper. 2. Islamic fundamentalism Believers of Islam, the Muslims with their faith system currently constitute over 1 billion people worldwide. The core of Islam ushers from the monotheistic traditions of Judaism and Christianity and Prophet Muhammad was the profounder of Islam (Milton, 11). Basically the notion of Islamic fundamentalism focuses on the elimination of barriers between individual Islamic countries and people and establishment of Islamic law as the basis of the legal system and social ordering as preached by Prophet Muhammad. A part of the Muslim world has faced social, economic inequalities and has also been poverty stricken as a direct effect of colonial regime. In order to curb themselves from these negative externalities and dominance of western culture they became rigid in their belief that it is only through the return of Islam throughout that their perils can be healed. The rigid Muslim fundamentalists in order to establish Islam influenced state are even prepared to sacrifice their own lives for the achievement of their goal. Their dress codes, rigorous attachment to Islamic moral codes reflect their aversion to the western society. A predominant phenomenon which is attached with Islam unlike other modern system of religious belief is that of violence. But the underlying strength and attraction of the fundamentalist group is that they intend to bestow people with discrete identity, self respect and hope to get themselves out from their difficult circumstances. Several fundamentalists embedded with high moral and ethical values have contributed immensely to the improvement of the society with establishments of hospitals, schools, and widow’s pension etc but it has also been a harsh reality that there are a mass of people who believe that Muhammad’s preaching and peace can come through spread of terrorism and violence (Debus, 2). 3. Role of media and Islam For the development of communities and exchange of information, media is an indispensable tool and plays a significant role. Books, magazines, newspaper, internet and various other social media incorporate into the society valuable information, people’s opinion and views and about the current whereabouts absolutely relevant to the development of the society. Delivering facts about reality to the common masses lies in the hands of the media and it can easily mold the perception of the people regarding a particular fact (Balraj, 1). Ethically speaking media must deliver or report unbiased news stories but it is also a fact that global media is often blamed for reporting news against Islam and especially western media has been known to carry on campaign against Islam in the name of campaign against terrorism. Probability of acceptance by the audience increases as more channels carrying the same campaign. Media attraction has been concentrated on Islam as an interrupting element in the global order since the end of the Cold war. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world although a sizeable part of the western countries look Islam as a religion which promotes extremism, terrorism and violence in contrast to the thought of many westerners that Islam is peaceful religion and does not favor or promote unwanted violence or terrorism (Haque et al, 5). 4. Indian cinema (Bollywood) and Islam Islam and its impact have been predominant in the Indian cinema from its origination. In recent development Bollywood has shown interests in portraying the influence of Islam and Muslims in their movies (Balraj, 1). Bollywood movies have a huge global market and the movies of Bollywood are seen and acclaimed all over the world. Bollywood films have their originations and orientation based on the Hindu mythology and symbolism but the viewer base of the Bollywood movies are diverse and global. In many Bollywood films the picture of Islam has been associated with terrorism, violence, intercultural misunderstanding in contrast with Hindu symbolism and mythology which dominated the market of Indian cinema. Like North American and European media in many Bollywood films there have been impacts of stereotypes like terrorism, extremism but historical facts reveal that prior independence serious attempts were made to address the positive aspects of Islam and Muslims in Bollywood movies. Legendary movies like Noorjehan in 1923, Mughal-e-azam in 1960 were massive endeavors in emphasizing the common history of Hindu and Muslim and depicted the lost glory of the Mughal Empire. Again Umraojaan in 1981 a phenomenal Hindi movie depicted about a nineteenth century cultured courtesan in Lucknow (Hirji, 117). 5. Shahrukh khan and his movies Shahrukh khan is a brand in itself is the Bollywood’s leading star and a global icon. His tremendous passion for movies has led him from a position of a new coming struggling actor in the film industry to such a huge summit where only few blessed can reach or have reached. He is recognized as the king of Bollywood. He is wedded to Gauri Khan who is a Hindu in origin. Globally his popularity is immense as well as in the Muslim world where he has a huge fan base. Even in Pakistan and Afghanistan where the Mullahs ban his films; the demand of his movies is tremendous and strives on black market in those countries. In his films predominance of secularism is clearly reflected and with a notion of “love trounces bigotry” (Yabroff). Shahrukh khan movies have a deep down effect in several societies. In a recent red carpet event in Toronto, sheer outburst of enthusiasm came out from the crowd of audience who were mostly South Asians and were diehard fan of this great Bollywood hero. The impact of Bollywood cinema was really profound on Canadian youth which compelled scholar Faiza Hirji who in her book, Dreaming in Canadian: South Asian Youth, Bollywood and Belonging focused on the impact of Bollywood and the intersection of ethnicity and religions and infers that these movies had significant impact on a young Canadian South Asians and Muslims. According to author Hirji, interpretations of Bollywood from the youth can be seen as possible modes of resistance to dominant media cultures (Hirji, 130). 6. Shahrukh khan and impact of Islam in his movies 6.1Veer Zaara and underlying mechanism In the paradigm of romantic movies Hollywood movies can be thought to give bigger threat to the Puritanical Shariah Law than the Bollywood’s tamer approach but in fact the reality is that both Hollywood and Bollywood come with the agenda of true love which is above all obstacles and hindrances. Although the preaching mechanism is the same for both these film industries, the social prejudices or the obstacles faced by Hollywood couples like previous lovers, broken marriages, infidelity, etc have very little significance with the concerns of people in the traditional Muslim countries. These traditional Muslim countries can more relate to Bollywood movies where lovers face restrictions from their families as arranged marriage is still a prevalent institution there. One of Shahrukh khans’ biggest hits Veer Zaara is a romantic film which is centered on cross cultural love between a Hindu and Muslim and also shares the commonalities between two nations that is India and Pakistan (Sharma, 91). Veer-Zaara released in 2004 is one of Shahrukh Khan’s outstanding mega hits whose story line involved the romance between   a Hindu-Indian Air Force officer Veer and a Muslim-Pakistani woman, Zaara. The role of Veer is played Shahrukh Khan who is a Muslim and the role of Zaara was played by a Hindu actress Preity Zinta.  Zaara who belonged to an esteemed political family from Pakistan visited India fulfilled the last wishes of her governance by dispersing her ashes in her native village. The story starts with the meeting of Zaara and Veer when the bus she took for Pakistan from India overturned. Veer rescued Zaara from the place where the bus overturned and invited her to his ancestral village to spend some days where parents of Veer were overwhelmed by the behavior of this Pakistani girl and imagined of her being the wife of Veer. Veer also developed soft corner for Zaara but Zaara returned to Pakistan as she was priory engaged to someone fixed by her parents back in Pakistan. Zaara also fall in love with Veer and they were made for each other. Zaara belonged to a prestigious political family in Pakistan. Zaara’s father was a high profile politician in Pakistan and the marriage of Zaara was fixed by her father to a person who family also had a influential position in the political scenario of Pakistan. In the mean time Veer in order to bring back Zaara left his job in Indian air force and went to Pakistan and openly confessed his love to Zaara. By getting aquatinted with the love story of Veer and Zaara , Zaara’s mother pleaded Veer to go away because if Zaara’s father ever came to know about his daughter falling in love with an Indian then his father’s career will be destroyed. Hearing this Veer decided to return back to India. But Zaara’s fiance was very annoyed with this stature and framed Veer as an Indian spy and made him imprisoned in Pakistani jail for 22 long years. Zaara’s fiance also told that if Veer reveals her original identity then he will never marry Zaara and gives him threat that her family will be smashed to ruins. His case came to the court and the responsibility was taken up by a Pakistani human rights lawyer Samiya Siddique, a role played by a Hindu actress. This case was the first case for this human right lawyer who fought for justice and truth. Her opposing lawyer was her teacher under whom she learned and he was an utterly experienced and well known proud lawyer in Pakistan who has never lost a case in his life. He had personal ethical problems with Samiya and took up this case in order to beat her student and teach her a lesson that going against his ethics would always result her to failure. But after a huge battle in court she ultimately succeeded in freeing Veer from the prison and both Veer and Zaara were reunited and they went to India. The film portrays the friction between the possibilities of the modern societies and the stringent demands of tradition and offers a solution to the adjustments of both. This film also teaches that young generation should choose to lead their life on their own way and choosing life partners should be their sole discretion irrespective of cast and creed and without their parent’s interference. But dominance of valuable attributes of traditional, religious cultures like love, respect for elders has been depicted as when Zaara went to India to dispose of the ashes of her governess. Also Zaara did not disrespect his family or rejects her family’s claim on her instead hearing of Veers death news she broke away with her husband and went to Veer’s ancestral home in India and settles there teaching the orphans of a village school. In Pakistan the movie was released when there was a ban on Bollywood there. Although it became a massive hit there which was able to attract a key audience who were family oriented, descent and honorable and came up with a mass appeal. The athletes of Pakistan who were in India then watched the film in a special screening and burst out in cheer and dance when they saw their favorite hero dancing on a bus rooftop. 6.2Shahrukh’s contribution The role played by Shahrukh khan has been marvelous in this movie avoiding all criticisms and the fact is that his attempt to interpret has been totally different from any other role played by him. In this film there is clear representation of his double nature throughout the film bringing out his sensitive side on one hand and shadowy side on the other hand. Veer Pratap Singh , the character played by Shahrukh may be very simple if seen from outside but it portrays Shahrukh’s complex mind functioning which has helped him to turn the impossible to possible by adopting his real character and delivering outstandingly into the reel character (Gandhi). The love for his country and pride for his religious root has been reflected while narrating stories and conversation with his lady Pakistani lawyer in Pakistani jail where he was imprisoned for 22 long years. In order to protect the dignity of his Muslim love Zaara he never disclosed his true identity and kept himself confined in the jail for so long time which shows the attribute of his self sacrifice for his love. Again remaining in jail, he always tried to heal the other prisoners in the jail whenever they fell sick. He was also recognized as ‘Khuda ka banda’ which means god’s messenger by a jail authority and this reflects the attribute of his deep humanity. 6.3 Message of the film It can be said that from this film Bollywood encourages young lovers to follow their heart not by going against their family and faith structure but to realize romantic love not outside the broader structure of faith and family but within it and to seek an optimal solution to it. Here Bollywood acts both as progressive and conservative machinery which entails a general appeal to the Muslim youth who are an essential part in molding of a peaceful society (Dalmia). 6.4 Criticisms faced and public response When the cinema was released some people claiming themselves to be the members of a Muslim Fundamentalist organization came up with the claim that their community has been put forwarded by in this film in a obnoxious way. Although the mass appeal for this movie was much more positive and it surpassed boundaries. When asked about the film a 19 year old Indian girl said that she loved the acting of Zaara and the thing which mostly moved her was the way Zaara cared about the honor of her family, and put love above her religion and country. A 17 year old lower middle class school girl coming out of a cinema hall in Bombay when asked about the film told that when she was little her feelings were against Pakistan and her parents feelings were strong on the terrorism issue and was acquainted with the fact that nothing could be said against parents and even love is not accepted. But her views after watching the movie changed and she narrates that relation between the two countries have been depicted in a very harmonious way (Banaji, 15-16). 7. My Name Is Khan and Islam The attack of the world trade center which is recognized as the phenomenal 9/11 in America has almost shattered the American society and they became injected with a notion that the Muslim countries in order to spread Islam carried on these attacks and spread terrorism. The Americans became very rigid about taking steps against terrorism. Shahrukh Khan criticizes extremists and uses his popularity and stardom as a platform to spread the message of the concerns of the ordinary Muslims in the rest of the world (Dalmia). Media with its super advanced technology has exaggerated the potential of transferring information to the common masses and in molding the perception of the viewers. However different forms of media ranging from traditional press to new electronic sources have been seen as authentic sources depending upon their wide spread mechanism and networking. The notion of ‘other’ versus ‘us’ is represented in the Edward Said’s (a well known Palestinian American theorist) study of orientalism. Edward Said exposits orientalism as “a way of coming to terms with the orient that is based on the orient’s special place in European Western experience” (Said). The cultures of the orient have been standardized and has ushered into stereotypes within the society which has been intensified by the media with the advancement of technology of the post modern world. According to Said, western world has been misinterpreted by the East and has made the orient its ‘other’. In the mega Bollywood hit My Name Is Khan the Muslims have been represented as the ‘other’ and was made in order to tackle Indian Muslim politics. In this movie Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan, plays the role of ‘Rizwan’ Khan who is suffering from Asperger's syndrome. He has faced several difficulties right from his childhood in adopting with classmates in school and has been victim of getting taunted by the fellow class mates. As he was mentally and physically challenged his mother gave him special care of which his brother was very jealous of him. His mother also gave him the lesson that differentiation between good and evil is more important for the valuations in life rather than differentiating between classes as for example the Hindus and the Muslims. This message carries with it a very important note that class differentiation and conflicts should be minimized in order to regain communal harmony. In portraying the character of Rizwan Khan with this syndrome, it places Rizwan as ‘the other’, with the message that no Muslims can redeem himself or even Islam unless he is mentally challenged (Balraj, 92-93) 7.1 Biased feelings In 2010, The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies held a panel in Cubberley Auditorium to discuss the association between filmy cultures, religious actions and identity, where in the film there was the portrayal of a ‘good Muslim’ and the comparison in the film of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Muslims. The interpretation in the film was that to be a ‘good Muslim man’ the necessity was to be mentally handicapped. The film has a severe impact and understanding with it. The director of the film has portrayed Shahrukh khan as a weak mentally challenged character unable to represent himself in the so called modern world. The representation of Shahrukh khan as weak personality has been represented in order to make him the subject of victim of the dominance of the western world. Rizwan Khan is innocent but his weak character does not let him live freely in the society and faces severe restraints from the modern civilized rational people. In terms of orientalism it can be said that the character of Rizwan Khan has been treated as the ‘other’. After the death of his mother he withdrew from his job from his brother’s cosmetic shop in USA and marries a Hindu protagonist with a son in the realm of communal conflicts and their life took a U turn when the attack of world trade center took place. After the attack a general feeling flowed within the common masses that Muslims in America became the ‘other’. The general notion spread was that terrorism comes from the Muslims and the religion of Islam is itself a violent religion. Attacks were made on Muslim stores, they were almost cornered. This biased feeling has also been depicted in the film when Rizwan’s sister in law faced discrimination and she also gets threat to go out of the country. Shahrukh’s wife also has to leave his business and look for other employment opportunities. In the meantime Mandira’s son was killed in the school as because a friend’s father was killed in the Afghanistan war. After this Mandira left Rizwan and blamed him for her son’s death and told that her son got killed only due to his father being a Muslim. Mandira told him that he will accept him only if he is able to go to the President of USA and clarify his innocence. In order to prove his innocence Rizwan set himself to meet the President of USA and in the airport of San Francisco in order to catch the flight for Washington D.C he was detained and his luggages were checked thoroughly and he was mal treated and harshly interrogated. Just being a Muslim he was treated unfairly by the airport authority. On rigorously interrogating Rizwan for his purpose of going to Washington he told that he was to meet the President of USA and tell him that “My Name Is Khan and I m not a terrorist.’’ And ultimately in a President’s rally Rizwan was mistakenly imprisoned as a terrorist. In jail he was made to suffer a lot of pain as taking the advantage of his autism he was subjected to visual and aural stimulations, keeping him under freezing cold temperature and harsh screaming interrogations. Through the efforts of journalists and concerned citizens of Indian origin he was finally freed and also gained the attention of the President and was finally recognized as the hero (Balraj and Reem, 94). 7.2 Message of the film It is a fact that violence and terrorism has been adopted as the weapon in the name of religion of Islam but it is a no solution but a part of the people has been involved in this mechanism. The film depicts that the Muslims has been treated as the ‘other’ and due to some people of their religion a majority of innocent Muslims are subject to discrimination and they have to prove their innocence. A human being is all above religion and that no religion comes into the forefront. The global media has played a significant role in delivering the reality in front of the world. 7.3 Shahrukh khan and My Name Is Khan Shahrukh in reality was himself detained at the airport and subjected to interrogation when he went to America for the promotion of the film and ultimately with the help of Indian consulate he was finally released. Even he faced rigorous tensions from the Fundamentalists and many protests in his country on the release of the film. Yet it successfully run and became a huge hit. When the Bollywood star having 1 billion fans across the world was encountered about his faith towards the rigid version of Islam and told that Jihad (meaning 'inner struggle') was supposed to be propagated by the Prophet Mohammed himself then he told that  "Now two versions of Islam exist. There is an Islam from Allah, and very unfortunately, there is an Islam from the Mullahs"(Dalmia). 8. Hey Ram Among the finest movies of Shahrukh Khan, Hey Ram released in 2000 plays a pivotal role in the addition of the dimension of this great Bollywood persona. Although not a huge box office hit but it carries a deep social message with it. The story is about communal riot and about a retired archaeologist Saket Ram and the backdrop is that Saket Ram’s grandson is narrating the story with Chennai infested with the communal conflicts on the 7th anniversary of the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya , a Muslim site claimed by Hindu fundamentalists as the birthplace of the Hindu epic god Ram. Shahrukh khan plays the role of Amjad Khan and he was an archeologist and colleague of Saket Ram and they were excavating at Mohenjo-Daro but Saket Ram has to return home in Calcutta as it was declared politically that a part of the site where they were excavating belonged to Pakistan. Saket’s wife was killed by Muslims in a communal violence and Saket in order to take revenge also murdered them and fled away. In this film Shahrukh khan was killed by a Hindu Mob while he was convincing his colleague Saket Ram. This film also faced great criticisms and it was termed as Anti-Hindutvya film. The message underlying is that communal tensions led the people to adopt violence and even sacrifice their own which is not a solution but a pathway to destruction and inevitable religious degeneration (Hey Ram) Conclusion The paper encompasses around Shahrukh khan’s movies and the influence or impact of Islam in his movies. Islam never propagates violence and its application. But it has been a fact that in the name of religion a sizeable part of the Islamic population has been adopting terrorism and is trying to create terror which comes from misinterpretations and to some extent lack of education. This spillover effect has been a cause of suffering to a majority of innocent Muslim population who has either to prove their innocence from time immemorial or they have been victimized as terrorist. The so called rigid Islamic fundamentalist has always feared that Bollywood is a threat to them. They think that these Bollywood movies have the capability of brainwashing Muslims against their own religious values and duties. Bollywood is indeed a big market and this has been one of the prime concerns of these people and believed to be as threat to them. But it is a hardcore fact that violence will not bring any solution and it is only through peace that communal harmonies can be attained and fights within communities can be indeed minimized. This message if spread through the movies of Shahrukh khan then there can be no other substitutes. The Bollywood maestro himself being a Muslim has depicted in his movies that it is through peace, tolerance, love and humanity that God can be achieved which is the core of Islam. Annotated Bibliography Balraj, Marie Belinda., “My name is Khan and I am not a Terrorist”: Representation of Muslims in ‘My name is Khan,” Journal of Language and Culture (2011) 2.6, pp. 91-95 March 27 from http://www.academicjournals.org/jlc/PDF/pdf2011/June/Balraj%20pdf.pdf About the journal: in the article taken from the journal,, the author emphasizes the fact that how Rizwan khan (Shah Rukh Khan) is being suppressed in the society, not only because he is an autistic person but because he is also a Muslim. It enlightens that for only a few Muslim people, Islam on the whole should not be categorized as terrorists. Banaji, Shakuntala, Fascist imaginaries and clandestine critiques: young Hindi film viewers respond to violence, xenophobia and love in crossborder romances, LSE Research Online, 2007, March 28 from http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/27360/1/Fascist_imaginaries_and_clandestine_critiques_young_Hindi_film_viewers_respond_to_violence,_xenophobia_and_love_in_cross-border_romances_(lsero).pdf about the article: the article throws light on the fact how the young generation of Bollywood audience react to violence, and cross border romances. It also gives a briefing about the Bollywood movie, Veer Zara, and how the story of cross border romantic relationship, impact the youth of this present era. Dalmia, Sikha, Bollywood vs. Jihad, Reason, Aug/Sep2011, 43.4, March 27 from About the Journal: The article enlightens the main concerns of the Islamic fundamentalists, due to a cultural conflict arising from the Bollywood industry. The fundamentalists are concerned about the threats that Bollywood poses to their Islamic law demands. Fundamentalists are worried as the Muslims acting or associated with the Indian film industry do not essentially follow the extremist fundamentalists and are creating a moderate version of Islam. It also discusses the issue with reference to the film Veer-Zaara. Debus, Barbel, Islamic Fundamentalism: Ideals and Reality, 2008, March 27 from http://www.islaminstitut.de/uploads/media/Fundamentalism.pdf About the article: the article deals with the different fundamentalist thoughts amongst the Muslims themselves. It acknowledges the main differences from the fundamentals that are believed and what the fundamentals actually are. Also portraying the sufferings caused to the common Muslim people due to the thought of few other from their own religion. Gandhi. Akash, Veer Zaara Review, planet Bollywood, March 28 from: http://planetbollywood.com/Film/VeerZaara/ About the web content: the web content depicts the story of the 2004 released, Bollywood film Veer Zaara. It enlightens on the plot the film is made, and the contribution by the versatile actor Shah Rukh khan. It also shows how the film is depicted against the common fundamentalism of the Muslims, as it portrays cross boundary relationship. Hey Ram, UIOWA, n.d, March 28 from http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/HEYRAM.html About the web content: the web content gives a review of the famous bollywood movie of 2000, “Hey ram”. The film has the eminent personality of Shah Rukh khan who plays the role of a Muslim leader. Haque, Faatin, Global media, islamophobia and its impact on conflict resolution, n.d., March 27, from http://www.ihmsaw.org/resourcefiles/1260034024.pdf About the article: the article acknowledges the impact of global media on Islam as a religion. It shows the misinterpretation of Islam by the media. The biasness of the western media towards the religion, and the impact this misinterpretation has on the minds of the people and on the common innocent Muslims. Hirji, Faiza, Dreaming in Canadian: South Asian Youth, Bollywood, and Belonging, UBC Press, Nov-2010 About the book: the book focuses on Bollywood cinema, the diversified audience that Indian cinema shares all over the world. Indian cinema is viewed worldwide by a large volume of audience which includes people from different religions. It portrays the role of Bollywood on Islam as a religion, and the Muslim people. Milton-Edwards, Beverly, Islamic fundamentalism since 1945, Routledge, 2005 About the book: The book enlightens the fundamentalism of Muslims since the year 1945. It deals with the fundamental thoughts and beliefs of the Muslim society, with Prophet Mohammad being the profounder of the sacred religion. Mohammed, Javed. How Bollywood portrays “the other”, 2008, March 28 from: http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/how_bollywood_portrays_the_other/ About the web content: the web content focuses on the Hindi films that are based on the romantic relationships between Hindu and Muslims. The limelight is on the two movies, “Pinjar” and “veer Zara”, and how these movies have influenced the life of common Muslims, inspite of being against Muslim fundamentalism. Reem, My name is Khan, 2010, March 28, from: http://insideislam.wisc.edu/index.php/archives/4518 About the web content: The web content gives a brief review about the Bollywood film, “My name is Khan”, with the popular Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan playing the role of Rizwan khan. Sharma, Namrata, Makiguchi and Gandhi: their educational relevance for the 21st century, University Press of America, Sep-2008 Top of Form Bottom of Form About the book: the book acknowledges the educational relevance in the 21st century. It gives a vivid example of a Bollywood movie, Veer Zara, which portrayed love across boundaries, which was once against the Muslim fundamentalism. Srivastav, Vinita, Dreaming in Canadian: South Asian Youth, Bollywood and Belonging, 2010, 4. 2, pp. 129-131 ,27 March from http://www.gmj.uottawa.ca/1102/v4i2_srivastava.pdf About the Journal: The journal focuses on the interpretation of Bollywood films, and the intersection of ethnicity and religions within these cultural products that author says have significant impact on a young Canadian South Asians and Muslims. The effect Bollywood films have on the people of Canadian origin. Sheikh, Rishad, My Name is Khan and I Am a Terrorist, October 2010, March 28 from http://blog.dawn.com/2010/11/08/my-name-is-khan-and-i-am-a-terrorist/ About the blog: the author portrays the story of a young Muslim man, how his life changed post the 9/11 disaster. The effect the terror attack of 9/11 had on the life of that innocent Muslim. A group of Muslim terrorist involve in the 9/11 attack, resulted in labeling the common innocent Muslim as “terrorists”. Yabroff, Jennie. Shah Rukh Khan NewsWeek (2008), 153. 1, March 29, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=38a670d3-8391-4085-b056-4d33277fff79%40sessionmgr11&vid=5&hid=112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=35830102 About the journal: The journal article deals with the impact of Shahrukh khan on the Muslims fundamentalism all over the world. The global impact of the man is portrayed in this journal. Outline 1. Introduction The king of Bollywood as he is known is a global figure in the world presently. His rise in Bollywood and shaping up his career of stardom has been solely due to his tremendous passion for the movies. His recognition came as a romantic hero and later in his movies has shown influences of Islam with social messages are stated in this section. Shahrukh Khan, a Muslim by religion, through his movies, has portrayed the notion of true Islamism and his belief towards Islam in a dynamic way. 2. Islamic Fundamentalism This section deals with the origin of the religion of Islam and Islamic Fundamentalism. It gives a short brief about the root of Islam and then it concentrates on the origin of Islamic fundamentalism. The very notion comes from the establishment of Islam as a supreme religion and breaking down the barriers between the people of different Islamic countries. Their rigidities, social stigma and basic principles attached are discussed in this section. Also how violence is related to Islamic Fundamentalism is also mentioned in this section. 3. Role of media and Islam Media plays a pioneering role in discussing the public opinion and information exchange. The influence of Islam and its representation has been greatly structured by the modern media. The impact of Islam through the media has been greatly emphasizing violence and extremism which has been discussed under the purview of this section. 4. Indian cinema (Bollywood) and Islam This section deals with the interaction of the Indian cinema and the impact of Islam in it. Bollywood has always been portraying Islam in their movies which are discussed in this section with reference to some great Bollywood movies where the immense positive aspects are shown. Violence and extremism have been also shown as a part of Islam. 5. Shahrukh khan and his movies This section depicts the recognition of Shah rukh Khan as the superstar of Bollywood and his tremendous global popularity and his market in the Islamic countries. It also tells about his family background and the spirit of secularism in his movies. Also discussed is impact of his movies in different societies. 6. Shahrukh khan and impact of Islam in his movies This section has several subsections and they deal with the impact of Islam with their movies and three movies are mentioned here which are Veer Zaara, My Name is Khan and Hey Ram and the impact of Islam in these movies. 6.1 Veer Zaara and underlying mechanism This section explains the plot of the movie Veer Zaara which is a cross cultural love story and the internal mechanics with pros and cons have been mentioned which will be understood after going through the section thoroughly. 6.2 Shahrukh’s contribution In this section performance of Shahrukh khan has been analyzed briefly and the intersection between his real life and reel life has been introduced in a good fashion. His orientation about Islam is quite clearly represented. 6.3 Message of the film This section deals with the message of communal harmony that this film brings with it which is analyzed briefly in this section. 6.4 Criticisms faced and public response Since the film is a cross cultural love story the movie is subject to criticism. The far outweighing public responses over criticisms about this movie have been discussed in this section. 7. My Name Is Khan and Islam A substantial part of the paper is involved with the discussion of this film. It involves how Islam is strictly related to this film through the portrayal of mentally challenged Muslim named Rizwan Khan played by Shah rukh khan in this movie. 7.1 Biased feelings This section deals with the continuation of the story line of the movie which focuses the bias behavior, constraints entailed upon common innocent Muslims in the western world. A brief analysis is incorporated in order to understand the theme. 7.2 Message of the film The message of this film is that it due to some people favoring terrorism and practicing them many innocent people of this religion have to face hard constraints and points to the solution of this problem. 7.3 Shahrukh khan and My Name Is Khan In this subpart the Bollywood hero himself describes restraints faced by him while promoting his film in United States and also his take over Islam. 8. Hey Ram In this movie Shahrukh khan played the role of a Muslim archaeologist and a short description with meaning has been induced here. This film also deals with communal discrepancies. Conclusion Being a superstar of Indian cinema and a huge global fan following base Shahrukh Khan is a responsible human being whose respect for his religion is immense and gets reflected with all the positive attributes that the religion preaches in his movies. He is dead against terrorism but a pure love for his religion. Bollywood also plays a vital role in curbing down the violence of the Islamic fundamentalists who are in favor of violence and terrorism. Read More