Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archives
    • By Issue
    • By Article
    • By PDF (2008-14)
    • By PDF (1985-97)
    • All Articles
  • Sections
    • Current Research
    • Findings & Footnotes
    • On/File
  • Google Search
You are here: Home / Archive / Sikhs gaining center stage in Bollywood, even as stereotypes endure

Sikhs gaining center stage in Bollywood, even as stereotypes endure

September 1, 2014 by Richard Cimino

Print-friendly

Recently, Sikh characters have found a popular place in Bollywood films, though such portrayals tend to perpetuate the stereotype of Sikhism as an exotic and warrior-based religion, according to an article in the journal Sikh Formations (published online Aug. 21).

Today, top Bollywood actors are vying with each other to play Sikh characters, and such films as “Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year,” and “Singh is Kinng” have created what author Anjali Gera Roy calls a “Sikh cool.” Sikhs’ prominent representation in India’s military and their more rural backgrounds have established Sikh characters as rustic and masculine; the turban and beard only highlight these features and add to their sex appeal.

Roy adds that in more recent years, the portrayal of the Sikh as embodying rustic authenticity has progressed to a Sikh playing the figure of the self-made entrepreneur. But in the majority of films, the Sikh is seen through the camera lens as reaffirming “family ties, community, traditional values, sincerity and conviviality that is contrasted with the aspirations of an urban middle class globalized India towards an individualized, instrumentalist, modern and work-centered ethic,” Roy concludes.

(Sikh Formations, http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rsfo20/current#.VAbQcix0y1s.)

Print-friendly

Filed Under: Archive

Also in this issue

  • Findings & Footnotes: September 2014
  • Hinduism’s appeal in religious marketplace fueling extremism in India?
  • Alevis’ relations with Turkish government hangs in balance
  • ‘Muslimism’ — the new face of Islamic orthodoxy?
  • Eastern Christian, Muslim immigration forges new church partnerships in Sweden
  • Ireland’s ‘extra-institutional’ religious turn
  • Current Research: September 2014
  • Christian Scientists’ ecumenical involvement brings changes to faith
  • Celibacy gaining credence among gay evangelicals
  • Gay rights making Korean-American Christians more public and more insular
  • Featured Story: When Muslim converts don’t stay converted

Search the Site

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Click on the image for downloading

© 2016-2023 Richard Cimino / Religioscope
·News Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress