When I decided to watch Tanhaji on a last-minute whim, I expected the film to tell a certain narrative—that of ‘Indian’ (Hindu) valor versus ‘Invader’ (Muslim) barbarianism. According to Wikipedia, the movie tells the life-story of Tanhaji Malusare, a military leader of the Maratha Empire, and his fight against the Mughals who were trying to extend their empire into Southern India. What I didn’t expect, however, was the peculiar way in which the film packaged this narrative into its portrayal of two different kinds of masculinities, represented by the film’s hero Tanhaji (Ajay Devgn) and its villain, Udaybhan Rathore (Saif Ali Khan).
Tanhaji (2020)
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol
Director: Om Raut
The Portrayal Of ‘Bad Muslims’
Rathore is an interesting character because despite being Hindu, a Rajput to be specific, he aligns himself with the Mughals. Later in the second half of the film, we learn that he did so after a Rajput woman rejected him because of his mother’s caste. Except his speech, as once in a while he speaks with a Rajasthani accent, he seems to have shed everything ‘Hindu’ about him. Unlike most of the film’s Hindus, who wear white or light colored clothing, he is almost always dressed in black and shown in dark/grey lighting. Rathore wears kajal, which is pop culture’s favourite way of signifying ‘Muslimness’ in men, which in this case also means ‘villain-ness’. Spooky music plays whenever he comes on stage, thus telling the audience that Rathore is a bad guy.
Rathore wears kajal, which is pop culture’s favourite way of signifying ‘Muslimness’ in men, which in this case also means ‘villain-ness’. Spooky music plays whenever he comes on stage, thus telling the audience that Rathore is a bad guy.
In addition to these somewhat subtle signs, his villainy is made crystal clear through his actions. He once made a man fall to his death just by screaming and walking towards him. He has kidnapped and chained the woman who he supposedly loved (Kamala Devi, played by Neha Sharma) and now smells her creepily and watches her while she bathes. He eats meat, and in this case, it is crocodile meat which Rathore happily devours. Lastly, and importantly, he is a villain because he chooses to side with the Mughals and not with the Maratha Hindus fighting for Swaraj.
The Portrayal Of ‘Good Hindus’
In stark contrast to Rathore, who is Bad with a capital ‘B’, Tanhaji Malusare is always moral and upright and principled. He is a family man, who has so much honour that he feels a little uncomfortable when his own wife, Savitribai Malusare (Kajol), tries to sit in his lap. Temple bells ring and an uplifting background score plays when he enters a room. For Malusare, his land comes before himself and his family, to the point that he is willing to die for it, which he ultimately does, again showing how heroic Malusare is.
He is a family man, who has so much honour that he feels a little uncomfortable when his own wife, Savitribai Malusare (Kajol), tries to sit in his lap. Temple bells ring and an uplifting background score plays when he enters a room. For Malusare, his land comes before himself and his family, to the point that he is willing to die for it, which he ultimately does, again showing how heroic Malusare is.
The movie portrays two completely different characters and through them, two completely different definitions of masculinity, with one being Udaybhan’s violent and monstrous (Muslim) masculinity and the other being Tanhaji’s moral and principled (Hindu) one.
The Hindutva Masculinity
When I shared critical reviews of the film pointing this out, my friends responded by telling me to “take it easy” because this is just a historical film with little present-day significance. Regardless, it’s shocking how neatly these definitions of masculinity overlap with how Hindutva and Hindutva-sympathetic activists talk about Hindus and Muslims. My cousin, who vehemently supports the BJP and openly says, “I hate Muslims,” justifies it by saying that Muslims are violent and that all of them are terrorists. A former mentor once told me that compared to Muslims, Hindus are much more tolerant and kind. He added that Hindus don’t engage in ‘Love Jihad’ and are respectful to women, unlike Muslims.
Dibyesh Anand, who conducted ethnographic research among Hindutva activists writes, “Hindutva narrative often starts with a pious view of the ‘tolerant Hindus’ and then proceeds along the following lines. Hindus are peaceful, calm and non-violent.” In contrast, “Muslims are imagined as foreign, violent, fanatical, intolerant, untrustworthy and anti-national. Muslims have ‘too many children’, the