Muslim Culture In Malayalam Movies (1990-2024)

We live in a very transparent age. The present is largely out of bounds as far as the previous past. The role played by mass media in building and destroying human values in a transparent world is immense. Although cinema is only a form of entertainment among the public in Kerala, cinema is a universal medium. Cinema plays a huge role in establishing the vision of the society and giving direction to the audience. Cinema is a great art form that makes the audience aware of different peoples, scientific disciplines, different levels of cultures and perspectives. But cinema, which opens different avenues of knowledge to its viewers, is also a dangerous platform capable of poisoning people’s minds. Hollywood movies often portray Asians in a very primitive way. We can see the presence of Asians in Hollywood films as characters who are very different from the western society such as bad accent, primitive culture. There is constant criticism of Hollywood for sharing such negative messages through movies. Movies like Ghost in the Shell (2017) and Memoir of a Gheisha (2005) are examples of bad orientalism in Hollywood movies. Malayalam cinema has propagated the untrue notion that Kerala Muslims are a culturally backward and anti-modern people. If there is at least one Muslim character (by race, language or dress) in the film, they tend to be the ones who rant about the victim and perpetrator of terrorism, or who are irrationally angry and resentful of the Western way of life.