Analyzing the Cinematic Representation of Disability in Selected Bollywood Movies
Keywords:
Bollywood, Disability, Representation, Physical Disability, Mainstream Cinema, Film on DisabilityAbstract
Disability can be described as any kind of inability, dysfunction or deficit of the body or mind which causes impediments to an individual in performing specific activities and creates obstacles in communication with their surroundings contrary to what constitutes “normal” by the able population. It exhibits itself in several forms. Disability can be congenital or acquired. Disability Studies is the locus which as an academic discourse calls for a social and attitudinal change in our approach towards people with disability. Physical and intellectual deformation often leads to deformation of a person on the social front. The focus here is to perceive the area of disability studies not as a pathological category but rather as a critical category which can be reinterpreted and reshaped to give meaning to the lives of the people living with disabilities. The application of disability studies on contemporary Indian fiction and films helps in widening the horizon of human consciousness. The focus is to make the invisible section of the society visible by working as an eye opener for the society so that the people with disability are saved from marginalization and social exclusion. This paper intends to do away with the commodification of disabled individuals and treat them as normal social beings. It is difficult for the people of the mainstream culture to agree with the fact that life is a process which starts with disability then ability and then it gets over with the disability. This thought seems disturbing to them, therefore, they hesitate to talk about these issues. Social stratification is the inequality fabricated by the society which gives privileged positions to some people while it renders a less privileged position to others. Literature and Media have made a significant contribution in increasing awareness about various challenges confronted by persons with disability. They have helped in providing some insights into the psyche of the disabled through projecting their deprivation, segregation and discrimination in the society. It has, thus, provided them with a voice of their own at socio-cultural and political level. This has, in certain specific ways, helped them to ameliorate their status by granting them access to some of their basic human rights, but the reality of their situation and its representation in media reveals that there is still a long way to go for the disabled, to get really empowered and lead a life of dignity and realization of their full potential. In this respect, the role of cinema, a potent means of enlightenment and social transformation, assumes crucial significance and, therefore, needs to be examined in depth and detail. Many mainstream Bollywood movies have depicted the experiences of differently-abled people either as a part of the plot or as the main subject of the story while exploring varied ways of fascination with the topic. This paper is an attempt to shed light on how Bollywood mainstream cinema incorporates the idea of disability in their movies, and what is the level of sensitivity when it deals with issues of disability? Whether the idea of disability has been romanticized or patronized in Bollywood movies? Whether Bollywood uses the idea of disability just to garner commercial success or communicate about the concerns of a disability type?