1st Edition

Visual Anthropology of Indian Films Religious Communities and Cultural Traditions in Bollywood and Beyond

Edited By Pankaj Jain Copyright 2025
138 Pages
by Routledge

138 Pages
by Routledge

138 Pages
by Routledge

This book provides a unique insider’s look at the world’s largest film industry, now globally known as ‘Bollywood’ and challenges existing notions about Indian films. Indian films have been a worldwide phenomenon for decades. Chapters in this edited volume take a fresh view of various hidden gems by maestros such as Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy, V Shantaram, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen,... Read more

Introduction - Visual Anthropology of Indian Films: Religious Communities and Cultural Traditions in Bollywood and Beyond

Pankaj Jain

 

Part I: Portrayal of Religious Communities

 

1.  From Kil-Arni to Anthony: The Portrayal of Christians in Indian Films

Pankaj Jain

 

2. Such a Long Journey: Portrayal of the Parsi Community in Films

Pankaj Jain

 

3. From Padosi to My Name is Khan: The Portrayal of Hindu–Muslim Relations in South Asian Films

Pankaj Jain

 

4. Film as a Majoritarian Framework of Hindu Nationalism: The Case of Purab Aur Pachhim

Pankaj Jain and Ajay Raina

 

5. Encountering Asceticism: A Hindu Nun in Jogan, vis-a-vis a Buddhist Monk in Trishagni

Shikha Sharma and Pankaj Jain

 

Part II: Portrayal of Gender Issues

 

6. Anuradha and Anupama: Gender Issues through Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach

Nandini Bhasin and Pankaj Jain

 

7. The Objectification of Women in V. Shantaram’s Films                                                   

Pankaj Jain and Nandini Bhasin

 

Part III: Portrayal of Nature, Environment, and Climate Issues

 

8. “Children of the Soil” to “Dark Wind”: Nature, Environment and Climate in Indian Films

Pankaj Jain and Shikha Sharma

 

9. Ecocritical Analysis of Classics by Three Indian Film Maestros: An Extended Film Review

Pankaj Jain

 

10. Sara Jahan Hamara: Indian Films and Their Portrayal of Foreign Destinations

Pankaj Jain

 

11. Do Bigha Zamin: A Realistic Masterpiece of Indian Cinema

Jyoti Tyagi and Pankaj Jain

 

12. Virtue Ethics of Boot Polish and Dosti, as Compared with Slumdog Millionaire

Pankaj Jain

Biography

Pankaj Jain is Professor and HoD of Humanities and Languages and the Chair of The India Centre at FLAME University. He is a renowned academic leader with international recognition in Sustainability, Jain Studies, Film Studies, and Diaspora Studies. He has co-edited the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions (2022) and Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion (2023). His earlier monographs are Modern Jainism: A Historical Approach (2023), Dharma in America: A Short History of Hindu-Jain Diaspora (2019), award-winning Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability (2011), and Science and Socio-Religious Revolution in India: Moving the Mountains (2015). His articles and quotes have been featured in the Huffington Post, Washington Post, Times of India’s Speaking Tree, and Patheos. In July 2020, the New York Times interviewed him; in 2019, Morgan Freeman interviewed him for the section on Jainism in the National Geographic series The Story of God.