YAHUDI KI LADKI (Daughter of a Jew): Representation of Jews in Bollywood

• In Event: Jewish Women on International Screens: Soviet Film, Bollywood, and American Sitcom

Abstract

Although a micro minority (30,000 at its peak in the 1950s) the Jewish community in India has a long and complex history (Silliman 2001). The Baghdadi (Iraqi) Jewish community stands out for its contributions to the development of the metropolitan city of Bombay. In early to mid-twentieth century India, this community helped build the foundations of the port city of Bombay and shape its well-known Hindi cinema industry (Bollywood).

For my paper, I analyze YAHUDI KI LADKI (daughter of a Jew), one of the few movies that center on a Jewish narrative. A Bollywood adaptation of an Urdu play by the same name, this 1957 movie shows how visual and cultural language reveals culturally codified religious pluralism. The movie’s director, Bimal Roy used the story of the oppressive Roman victimizing Jews to serve as an allegory of the British colonization of India. Both Roy and Kashmiri used Jewish oppression to critique the colonial state and call for religious tolerance to escape British censorship.

It is likely that the plot of YAHUDI KI LADKI was derived from William Thomas Moncrieff’s historical drama THE JEWESS, which was later adapted into a French opera, LA JUVIE composed by Halévy (Hansen 2016). All three iterations presented a parable of religious tolerance and inter-faith love that culminates in martyrdom. The film assembled a mise-en-scene of the plurality of language, fashion, religion, and performance styles that are inherent to the formation of the Indian nation.

However, the cast was formed of minority Muslim, Anglo-Indian, and Parsi performers, and not Jewish actresses. My focus is on the kinesthetic representation of the Jewess herself. How does her character develop in the movie, what is her relationship with her family and her community, and how does it relate to larger conversations on the development of a postcolonial (Indian) nation? I trace the messy contours of gender, race, and religion through the actress’s performing body—her gestures, movements, and theatrical accents. How does an Indian Gentile actress embody the daughter of a Jew? How does the cinematic representation of a Jewess compare to the lived experiences of the Bombay Jewry?

Author

• Manjari Mukherjee