A daydream and a nightmare in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar: Formulas, fantasies and 1970s action Hindi cinema | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 14, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1756-4921
  • E-ISSN: 1756-493X

Abstract

1970s Hindi formula films have been described within Hindi film scholarship as melodramatic, and masochistic fantasies, the latter in terms of the hero’s desire to return to a pre-Oedipal state. In my analysis of (1978), the biggest hit of the year, I focus on its staging of scenes of fantasy and dream-like episodes and its foregrounding of childhood episodes involving father substitutes, primary figures I argue in the staging. By examining the film’s psychical–spatial terrain, I also consider the figure of the rival and villain, played by Amjad Khan, and I argue that Khan’s villainy reworks scenes of staged enmity with the hero into reconciliation. I conclude with some observations on the contemporary circulation of formula films on YouTube, where the films and their songs remain remarkably popular and generate a large archive of likes, views and comments, and user-generated content.

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2023-05-02
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