How The New Wave Muslim Social different from the Classic Muslim Social in Bollywood?
The Muslim Social genre refers to the social construction of Muslims reflected in stereotypes of Muslims in terms of language, culture, region and socioeconomic status.
In the Muslim Social genre, the main target of representation was totally on the Muslim aristocratic lifetime of the north Indian region of Awadh, ignoring the overwhelming majority of the Muslim community within the country. This genre was marked by its specialize in the decadent feudal aristocracy, on the one hand, and therefore the grandeur of architecture and opulent interiors of the aristocratic households.
Nawabs were the first focus in classical Muslim Social films. Whereas the women in Muslim Socials were positioned within the most marginalized manner than men because the genre mystifies the body of a woman with the concept of purdah (veil/curtain) ‘which confines women to the inside spaces of the house and physically segregates them through walls, curtains and screens likewise as restricting their activities outside the home’. Purdah upholds the dignity of a woman; nevertheless, she suffers from confusion related to the veil. But purdah also ‘dramatizes the romance’ because it mystifies women’s body through concealing secrets.
One can see all of these points within the film Mehboob (1963, dir. H.S.
Rawail) the film could be a Muslim society, which focuses on social class.
Muslim community. The mise-en-scene portrays the grandeur and opulence of the nawab class. It portrays two kinds of nawabs — the decadent nawab and the nawab who embodies cultural refinement but clings to feudal notions of family honour. The film also revolves around the purdah and the romance related to and the misunderstanding and complications it causes.
In contrast, the New Wave Muslim Socials represented Muslims as a common man/woman and their day-to-day regular problems in a real setting. It depicts the aftermath of the Partition. These films represented ordinary working-class or middle-class Muslims and the hardship of their day-to-day life. They addressed ‘social discrimination, the economic deprivation and communal the violence that ordinary Muslims faced on an everyday level’.
The new wave of Muslim social can be seen in two films: Garm Hawa (1972, dir. M.S. Sathyu) and Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989, dir. Saeed Mirza). Garam Hawa, which depicts the aftermath of the Partition and represents the experiences of a Muslim family in Agra. It portrays the fallout of the Partition for the Muslims who stayed on in India and the social and economic discrimination they faced. It depicts the fracturing of Salim Mirza family united by one, his relations migrate to Pakistan and how it has an emotional fallout on Amina, who goes through heartbreak twice and eventually commits suicide. The issues faced by Salim Mirza in obtaining a loan or in obtaining a rented house, and therefore the false allegations of spying levelled against him — all are representative of the dearth of trust between communities and the plight of the minority Muslims in post-independence India. Garm Hawa attempts to grant a voice to a repressed history publicly discourse.
Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro is also radically different from the Classic Muslim
Social. It focuses on a working-class protagonist and communal tension in
India. The film depicts a social context of economic deprivation, prejudice, the problem of getting employment, earning an honest livelihood, and lack of access to education. The film is about within the context of the Bhiwandi riots of 1984. It incorporates discussions on the origins of communal violence and how it instigated by those in power for vested interests. The film also refers to the Partition of 1947. The film gives the message of education and honest exertions.
In conclusion, we can say, while the Classic Muslim Social either ignored or repressed history, New Wave Muslim socials like Garm Hawa and Salim
Langde Pe Mat Ro confront and examine the history, and emphasise the legacy of the Partition in contemporary India.
