Opinion In the age of polarising films, the quiet rebellion of ‘Ikkis’ and ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’
Contemporary Bollywood remains largely trapped in a cycle of hypernationalism, where the representation of minorities has shifted from stereotyping to open criminalisation. A few films in the Hindi film industry and many in regional cinema offer an alternative vision
Contemporary Bollywood remains largely trapped in a cycle of nationalism, where the representation of minorities has shifted from stereotyping to open criminalisation Written by Nehal Ahmed
The success of hypernationalist Bollywood films is raising questions about the contemporary imagination of the nation on screen. What version of India does popular cinema project, and which realities are being excluded? For example, contemporary films are increasingly adopting hypernationalist tones and borrowing the narrative of the “war on terror” to portray Muslims as a threat. The making and success of movie sequels like Border (1997) and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) signal a filmmaking culture deeply invested in ultranationalism.
These films function as propaganda by elevating specific political ideologies and normalising dominant narratives. As mainstream Bollywood films struggle to draw audiences to cinema halls, films that vilify Muslims have become the highest-grossing. Recent releases such as Dhurandhar (2025) and Border 2 (2026) rely heavily on two, often interchangeable, favourite enemies of Hindi film — Muslims and Pakistan — which further reinforce a simplified and polarising worldview.
This new wave of “patriotic” films, historical films, biopics, and those that deal with controversial issues and crises has dominated Hindi cinema for over a decade. Border 2 and Dhurandar were among the highest-grossing of their time, full of well-tested cinematic tropes such as toxic heroism, emotional and rage-filled nationalist monologues, and a rigid “us vs them” discourse. Unlike earlier patriotic films like Roza (1992), LOC Kargil (2003), and The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), which primarily focused on external enemies, these films create an internal enemy, positioning Indian Muslims as the primary threat (The Kerala Story (2023), Chhaava (2025)).
Amidst this dominant trend, Ikkis (2026) stands apart as a rare and necessary intervention. In a time when war-centric narratives shape both filmmakers’ aspirations and audiences’ expectations, Ikkis quietly resists this tide of triumphalism by refusing to glorify war. Cinematically, it can be read as a film that does not valorise war and foregrounds empathy, moral complexity, and human vulnerability — elements that are largely invisible in contemporary war cinema. By focusing on soldiers’ exhaustion, silence, and emotional fragility alongside acts of bravery, the film challenges formula-driven filmmaking and the rhetoric of toxic nationalism. It is among the few films to humanise the armed forces while acknowledging the cost of war.
At a time when Muslims are increasingly othered and questioned in society, cinema often intensifies this pressure by casting doubt on their belonging, identity, food, everyday practices, and culture. Against this backdrop, The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) marks a shift, offering a more humane and grounded representation of Muslim life. The film focuses on the everyday concerns of a Muslim family without relying on stereotypes and raises unsettling questions about the character of a Muslim writer who is planning to leave India due to everyday violence and fear against the Muslim community. It is among the first films to articulate these anxieties so directly.
Regional industries such as Malayalam and Tamil cinema increasingly address everyday social crises with sensitivity and political clarity. Films like Feminichi Fathima (2024) and Eko (2025) in Malayalam and 3BHK (2025) and Bison Kaalamaadan (2025) in Tamil engage with the issues of migration, caste, colour, animals, gender, ecology, and marginalisation while avoiding caricatures of communities and nations. Mari Selvaraj’s Bison Kaalamaadan in particular echoes the concerns raised in The Great Shamsuddin Family by foregrounding the question of Dalit existence. In a way, both films are quite brave and timely in depicting what needs to be told to audiences. In both films, the lead characters — one Muslim and the other Dalit — are forced to flee from their own home due to persistent discrimination.
Contemporary Bollywood remains largely trapped in a cycle of nationalism, where the representation of minorities has shifted from stereotyping to open criminalisation. Earlier films such as Fiza (2000), Black Friday (2004), and Chak De India (2007) employed simplified representation without turning communities into collective enemies, while more recent works like Tanhaji (2020), The Kashmir Files (2022), Article 370 (2024), and War 2 (2025) intensify internal-threat narratives by portraying sections of the populations as enemies from within. In doing so, mainstream Hindi cinema continues to narrow the national imagination and diminish the plurality of the country.
Ahmed is a researcher, filmmaker and author
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