Nepal, Aug. 5 -- Mohammad Asim Siddiqui must be lauded for writing Muslim Identity in Hindi Cinema: Poetics and Politics of Genre and Representation - an excellent, passionately argued monograph on a tricky subject. Though the subject has been handled in articles and book chapters, a full-length study requires some courage and a strong ethical stand to be attempted in our time.

The book is about how Hindi films have questioned but also contributed to various stereotypical notions of Muslim identity, as seen in films exploring the subjects of terrorism and Muslim women. It takes cognisance of this, no doubt. But the emphasis is less on the interrogations posed by the films and more on the stereotypes they present. The author offers exampl...