Sikh Martiality, Islamophobia, Raj Nostalgia, a pinch of saffron: Kesari’s nationalist cocktail and the power of trailers

Abstract

Taking 2019 Bollywood blockbuster Kesari as a case study, this paper argues that contemporary film trailers are not just promotional para-texts: they can be powerful ideological texts too, as they become accessible, reiterative, and interactive through social media. The paper performs a discourse and visual analysis of trailer and trailer-users interactions to demonstrate that the trailer formulates and disseminates an Islamophobic, anti-secular, Hindu nationalistic discourse with coherence and complexity. It also blurs difficult questions regarding Indians' participation in the British Indian Army, and reclaims Sikhs as part of the Hindu nation in line with Hindutva ideology.