Bombay : A Cinematic Vision of Muslim Violence in the Bombay Riots (1992-1993)?

Abstract

Bombay (1995) was the first popular Indian film which tackled the issues of the Muslim-Hindu communal riots that took place in Bombay from December 1992 to January 1993 as the main theme. The film enjoyed popular and critical acclaims for its support of secularism and the reconciliation between the Muslim and the Hindu communities. However, some of the Indian and other foreign critics argued that the film unfairly depicted the violence of the Muslim people more than that of the Hindus. To scrutinize this question, in 2013, 13 students from the class of the Modern History of South Asia were asked to review and criticize the film. As a result, 11 students commonly concluded that the image of Muslim violence as appeared in the film was more apparent through the use of physical force and the arson commitment during the riots. In addition, one of them even suggested that the film implied that there is a tendency among the Muslims in India to use violence to solve their household’s problems.