UNPACKING ISLAMOPHOBIA IN BOLLYWOOD: A SOCIAL SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF "THE KARELA STORY FILM"
Keywords:
Islamophobia, Propaganda, Love Jihad, Social Semiotics, BollywoodAbstract
The article instigates with the debate that Bollywood Cinema redirects hazard bias towards the image of Islam while demonstrating the Muslims. This type of agenda is promoted the roots of Islamophobic narrations. This research looks forward for deeper understanding of new insight the recent Bollywood movie “The Kerala Story” film under the cover of Islampohobia accounts. The study is conceptually guided by the Representation theory and Pierce Semitic theory. Methodically, the research is based on qualitative social semiotic, filmic and denotative analysis of the said phenomenon. With the passage of time, Islamophia is rising in the Bollywood Cinema. The description of Islam and Muslims is found holistically prejudiced. Results of study clearly indicated that the Bollywood Filmmaker is working on hate ideology against the Islam religion through fueling the Islamophobic discourse as portrayed Islam is barbic religion and Muslim as physical assaulter, Radical, black mailer, hypersexual, Deceivers, rapist and hyper aggressive. Furthermore, the Film promotes the idea of love Jihad; Muslims men convert to non-Muslim women into the circle of Islam by trapping them through their intimacy, love and marriage. This type of Film loves the religion Hinduism and circulated the Hate against the religion of Islam eventually; the moviemaker agenda is based on Hate Identity and fuelled Islampohobia around the globe. The propaganda Model developed by Noam and Chomsky also observed in the research. The study confirmed the filters of the Propaganda Model. The Film producers of Bollywood have been retained and intentionally patent the trail of Islamophobia. Similarly in the modern times, Bollywood reveals the films are annoying to finger out Islam and Muslim as new narration and painted as Barbic in India. The researcher suggested that the producers, film directors should be more factual and mindful towards description of Islam religion.
.
Downloads
References
1177/097152151101800307. Sage publication
(1)77-95 doi.10.1007/s41020-2000114-5
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/vhp-steps-up-campaign-against-lovejihad/.
(3), 514–531. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01640.x
Aiello, G. (2016). Theoretical advances in critical visual analysis: Perception, ideology,
Ajita.S.(2020) Afrazul’ murder. Law and love Jihad. Jindal Global Law Review . Springer
Alawi, A. H.(2021) Media and intercultural communication shifts: A semiotic analysis of the among youth: A sociological analysis of Bollywood movies. Journal of Public Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2405
Analysis: A Norton reader (pp. 17–41). W. W. Norton & Company.
and mechanisms of narrative persuasion journal of Communicatoin.
Awan, I. & Zempi, I. (2020). A Working Definition of Islamophobia: A Briefing Paper Prepared
Bajwa, F. (2018). Analysis of Indian Films Propaganda against Muslims and Pakistan. Pakistan
Balabantaray, S. R. (2020). Impact of Indian cinema on culture and creation of world view
Bayrakli, E. & Hafez, F. (Ed.). (2019). European Islamophobia Report 2019. SETA: Istanbul
Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods. Oxford University Press.
Chandler, D. (2007). Semiotics: The basics (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualities inquiry and research design (4th ed.). SAGE
cultural identity in two international films . creation international Relations Review 27(88)1-13
Dudley.J (2019) persecution the love Jihad Rumor Religious Freedom and mass conversion in
Edgar, L., & Rutherford, T. (2017). A semiotic analysis of a Texas cooperative extension
for the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. OHCHR
Geiger, J., & Rutsky, R. L. (2005). Introduction. In J. Geiger & R. L. Rutsky (Eds.), Film
Hindi Cinema. Society and Culture in South Asia 2(2) 1–23. SAGE
Hirji, F. (2008). Change of pace? Islam and tradition in popular Indian cinema. South Asian
https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.1140
https://doi:10.1386/jammr.9.1.41_1
Iedema, R. (2001). Analyzing film and television: A social semiotic account of Hospital: An
Iftikhar.m.Zia.A.iqbal.N.& Javed.s (2023) Analyzing Muslim’s Representation in Bollyood films
Igartua.J.J., & Barrios, I. (2012) Changing real world beliefs with controversial movies processes
India University of Pennsylvania Press Doi 10.9783/9780812296006-007
Indian Cinema post 9/11: An Analysis. Journal of Media Studies Vol. 28(1): January 2013 26-39
Indian Journal of Human Development, 1(2), 403–422. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973703020070208
Interventions Routledge. 22 (4)464-480 doi.10.1080/1369801x.2020.1749709
Iqbal, Z. (2020). Islamophobia: History, Context, and Deconstruction. SAGE.
Islam, M. (2007). Imagining Indian Muslims: Looking through the Lens of Bollywood Cinema.
Khatun, Nadira (2018) “love-Jihad and Bollywood Constructing Muslims as other”, Journal of
Khatun, Nadira (2016) “Imagining Muslims as the ‘Other’ in Muslim political films.” In Journal
Kumar, S. (2016). Metonymies of Fear: Islamophobia and the Making of Muslim Identity in
Lester (4th Eds.), Visual communication: Images with messages (pp. 50–64). Thomson
Lester, P. M. (2006). The sensual and perceptual theories of visual communication. In P. M.
Love Jihad, in Boler, Megan, cavis eds. Affective politics of Digital media propaganda by other means Routledge. Pp.226-239
Manning, P. K., & Cullum-Swan, B. (1994). Narrative, content, and semiotic analysis. In N. K.
Marketing packet. Journal of Applied Communications, 96(1), 15–28.
Molaei, H., & Hussain Babaei, S. (2020). Portrayal of Muslims in Bollywood: Case-Study of the
mythologies, and social semiotics. Journal of Visual Literacy, 26(2), 89–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/23796529.2006.11674635
Nishant.U. (2020) Hindu Nation and its Queers’ Caste, Islamophobia, and D/Coloniality in India
of Arab & Muslim Media Research 9:1 (April 2016): 41–60.
Parsa, A. F. (2004). Visual semiotics: How still images mean? Interpreting still images by using
Popular Culture, 6(1), 57–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/14746680701878562
Publications
Raja, Aditi. “VHP steps up campaign against ‘love jihad’.” The Indian Express, September 20,
Rajasekhar, S. and Venkataraghavan, M. (2013). Portrayal of Muslim Community and Islam by
Rao, Mohan (2011) love Jihad and demographic fears, Indian journal of Gender studies doi
Religion & Film vol.22 retrieved from https://digtalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss3/8
Semiotic approaches. Paper presented at the 2nd International Symposium Communication in The Millennium: A Dialogue Between Turkish and American Scholars, In Cooperation with University of Texas, Anadolu University and Istanbul University
Singh, A. (2021). Caste in contemporary Bollywood movies: An analysis of the portrayal of characters.
Social Sciences Review, 2(I), 369–380. https://doi.org/10.35484/pssr.2018(2-1)30
Tanhaji Movie. World Sociopolitical Studies, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.22059/wsps.2021.314905.1185
through the lens of Ferdinand De Sausur’e theory of Semiotics. Journal of Social sciences and Media Studies 5(2) 43-54 retrived from https://doi.org/10.58921/jossams.05.02.0221
Unhealthy Business. In T. Van Leeuwen & C. Jewitt (Eds.), Handbook of visual analysis (pp. 183–206). SAGE Publications.
Wadsworth.
Zeinab.F. (2020) Hindu Nationalism New channels and Post Truth Twitter: A case Study of
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Imtiaz Hussain, Dr. Shahzad Ali, Tamoor Sohail Khan (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
