Body, masculinity and the male hero in Hindi cinema

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe male body in the Hindi cinema much like its female counterpart, is malleable and ductile, amenable to the hegemonic concerns. The article posits that Hindi cinema has normatively presented idealized male bodies which are symbolically aligned with the changing aspirations of the nation: enervated, lean male bodies as stark reminder of the Mahatma Gandhi’s idealized body in the colonial era; well-fed bodies raised on the “promise of socialist plenty” of the Nehruvian era; bulky, muscular bodies as shaped and demanded by the discourse of Hindutva.