Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines how contemporary Hindi-language popular cinema constructs Indian national identity and positions religious minorities within that construction. Using a quantitative content analysis of 180 theatrically released Hindi films from 2015 to 2024, comprising 1,246 coded speaking characters, the study measures demographic representation, narrative role allocation, and thematic framing. Hindu characters accounted for 78.4% of the coded sample and Muslim characters for 12.8%, while Christian (3.5%) and Sikh (4.0%) characters were over-represented relative to national population shares. A goodness-of-fit test confirmed significant divergence between screen and census distributions, χ²(4) = 52.58, p < 0.001. Muslim characters were more than twice as likely as Hindu characters to occupy antagonist roles (24.5% versus 11.4%) and were six times more likely to appear within security- or terrorism-coded narratives (28.9% versus 4.6%). Logistic regression indicated that Muslim identity independently predicted antagonist casting (OR = 2.41, p < 0.001) after controlling for gender, star status and narrative frame. Comparison across two five-year periods showed a decline in Muslim character share from 14.7% to 10.7% (z = 2.07, p = 0.038) alongside a near doubling of films employing an explicit nationalist frame, from 20.0% to 37.8% (χ²(1) = 6.93, p = 0.008). The findings suggest that the negotiation of national identity in contemporary Hindi cinema increasingly proceeds through the narrative marginalisation rather than the outright exclusion of minority figures.
Authors: Komal Slathia, Dr. Arti Dwivedi
Institution: Maharaja Agrasen Himalayan Garhwal University
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7208836330