It is very interesting to observe the notion of secularism in Hindi films. We have to appreciate the film industry to uphold the values of secularism during the initial decades of post independent period when the nation was divided and communal riots broke out. It is the time when the left movement had a great influence on the film industry through artists like Balraj Sahni, Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy etc.,. Later years also this tradition of secular values sustained in hindi films along with some minor deviations. Why this happened…. is an interesting question to answer.
I believe this broader sense of humanity came from the constituent structure of the film industry. People from various parts of the country, from various religious as well as social backgrounds came to form our Hindi film industry. If you take a typical hindi film in 50s, most probably the director could be a Bengali, script writer could be from MP or UP, technical crew could be from South India, actors could be from regions like Punjab etc., Also the contribution from Goanian(from Goa) music orchestrators to the hindi film music world was enormous.
We can also see that minority community had played a major role in the development of the film industry. The main excluded section was the tribal community (It is very rare that hindi film industry has addressed tribal issues).
This unification of cultural diversity had provided a secular platform for hindi film industry.
But interestingly there are many paradoxes in the secular stand of the film industry. Some of them are- if there is any Hindu-Muslim marriage, the groom is always from Hindu religion and the bride is from Muslim religion….. The responsibility to uphold religious amity always falls on the Hindu character… Most of the time Christian character would be a “professional” drinker and morally westernized….. etc.,
Even these paradoxes existed, hindi film industry was more over secular up to late 70s. In 80s and 90s we can see the rise communal messages in hindi films inspired from the large political atmosphere of the country.
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