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;