Author: Kanza Hussan
Abstract
This paper examines how military elements (such as the armed forces and intelligence agencies) are represented in contemporary Pakistani and Indian cinemas. This line of inquiry has been adopted to uncover the ways in which these representations contribute to ideas of nationhood, patriotism and national identities. This paper revisits some of the questions raised by scholars to analyze the specific role of military elements in the cinemas of the Subcontinent. The theories and ideas already proposed by prominent writers such as Hassan Askari and Gita Viswanath will be reoriented to fit contemporary representations of military elements in the context of this study through the analysis of one contemporary film from each side of the border, namely Waar/To Strike (dir. Bilal Lashari, 2013; Pakistan) and Phantom (dir. Kabir Khan, 2015; India). Released two years apart and presenting their own specific narratives on the issue of terrorism, these films also provide an insight into the ways in which terrorism is perceived on both sides of the border. Thus, it is through such films that we can begin to understand how cultural elements such as cinema can be used to understand the enemy, as well as to construct ideas about the relationship between countries, such as Pakistan and India.
Keywords
Militarism, Nationalism, Indo-Pak Relations, War in Cinema, Terrorism in Cinema
