Critique of the Response to Terrorism in Recent Bollywood Films

Abstract

With the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, on what has come to be known as 9/11, the study of terrorism has received considerable valorization. In contemporary times, terrorism has come to be closely associated with the religion Islam. It is being accused for initiating terrorism and all Muslims are seen by the West as sympathizers or supporters of terrorists. This research helps in understanding the politics and dynamics behind this hostility through a study of recent Bollywood films on the subject matter of terrorism. The films New York, My Name Is Khan and Shoot On Sight are made from a non-Western point of view where the voices of Muslims like Sameer Shaikh, Rizwan Khan and Tariq Ali, who are the protagonists need to be heard. The scourge of terrorism has to be nipped in the bud by all concerned stake holders in a tactful manner with a high degree of responsibility. But the counter-terrorism drive by the West in general and America in particular, as this dissertation argues, is not being conducted with a sense of responsibility. The counter-terrorism measures themselves have become the cause of the outbreaks of terrorist incidents. Therefore, through the films under discussion, it makes the people in the West take notice that all Muslims are not terrorists, while also finding resonance among Muslims in the Islamic world.