Selection of the Films
Initially, Bollywood films portraying Islamicate cultures, a categorisation of films by Ira Bhaskar & Richard Allen’s in their book ‘Islamicate Cultures of Bombay Cinema’ (2009) was followed. Accordingly, Bollywood films in the four major categories - Muslim Historical (films on life and works of major Historical-Muslim figures); Muslim Courtesan Films; Classic Muslim Socials (films on Muslim cultures of royal aristocracy); and New Wave Muslim Socials (contemporary social reality of Indian Muslims) - were watched. These films were watched to understand the depiction of Muslims as whole.
The present research is an attempt to understand portrayal of ‘Khan’ in Hindi films. Further, keeping the purpose of the film in mind a list of films related to the subject under study was framed. Accordingly, as per need of the present research, a pilot study was conducted. Dozens of Bollywood films falling under the theme were watched for a particular fixed time slot. For example; initially, each film was watched for 15 minutes and credits either at the beginning or end of the films were also recorded. Based on this primary research, a list of 30 films was framed. This initial list of films was further refined and through the help of systematic sampling technique, five were selected from the list of 30 films based on the criteria including subject matter, popularity and box office success. The films selected for the study include;