In mainstream commercial indian movies Sikhs are always shown as sidekicks comedians. Almost Never the main character. Why ?
I mean they are the second biggest minority after muslims in india. There are tons of movies with muslims as main character or even christians.
Is this some kind of collective bias or they not considered important enough in ‘Secular india’ that film maker dont make any mainstream film with main character as a Sikh ?
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
Have you seen any Punjabi movies?
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
^ he might mean in bollywood movies..
ps: hmm... that got me wondering too.. good question.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
Mainstream means commercial hindi/urdu movies (commonly known as Bollywood) NOT art movie neither regional movies. Recent Punjabi movies made in india are good nonetheless :k:
I tried to remember if there was such a movie. One movie came to my mind ‘Maachis’ where all the main characters were Sikh, but then again the storyline revolved around them and their struggle.
Interestingly, some of the most influential and famous directors / producers are Punjabi. For example Yash Chopra, J P Datta. Most of his movies there is clear influence of Punjabi culture & music in his movies.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
how about border,gadar,bhagat singh(there were 4-5 movies on the same theme in 2002),shaheed of manoj kumar etc, if u have ever cared to watch them.If its only ethnicity in the cinema is to be considered then there is no movie on jains buddhists parsi,tamilian ,andhraites,keralaites,bengali etc.the reason being bollywood caters to the need of hindi/urdu speaking masses of north india,pakistan, +those who understand hindi in other states.if certain group is not shown in hindi movies then that doesnt mean their is bias against them.Regional language movies caters to the needs of regional people.if they dont ve main stream north indian character that doesnt mean they ve some bias in movies.bollywood ,tollywood,kollywood all make movies for the people who watch them.there wont be any chiranjivi,mohanlal playing a gujrati ,bengali ,sikh mainstream character in regional movie.
If we follow ur logic then there must be 80% hindu representation,16% muslim representation,other 4 % (christian,sikh,jain,buddist,jainis,parsi) representation in bollywood movie.And then even railway, airline,bus reservation must be based on religion basis.If religion logic is taken then no business/industry will prosper.and bollywood is an industry with in itself.
So every thing cant be seen through green glasses.naked eyes gives better view.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
Mainstream means commercial hindi/urdu movies (commonly known as Bollywood) NOT art movie neither regional movies. Recent Punjabi movies made in india are good nonetheless
Interestingly, some of the most influential and famous directors / producers are Punjabi. For example Yash Chopra, J P Datta. Most of his movies there is clear influence of Punjabi culture & music in his movies.
Hm...so how many hindi movies have you seen with a Tamil, Telugu, kannada, Gujrathi, Assemese, Bengali, Oriya, Keralite heros? Obviously if the movie is in Hindi, a Hindi speaking hero is more common...why is that a surprise.
Also do not dismiss non-Hindi movies as non mainstream. You will be surprised how many Tamil and Telugu movies are made and consumed !
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
^^i think kollywood and tollywood churns ouut more tamil movies per year than bolly wood and bigger than bollywood itself in terms of money.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
what's tollywood?
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
kollywood is tamil film industry and tollywood is telugu film industry.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
the reason is simple
people with long beards, turbans are not marketable as major action stars
when was the last time that desi girls were swooning over a sardar heart-throb
we just have to admit it
having a long beard and turban makes you look un-sexy and thus not marketable
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
the reason is simple
people with long beards, turbans are not marketable as major action stars
when was the last time that desi girls were swooning over a sardar heart-throb
we just have to admit it
having a long beard and turban makes you look un-sexy and thus not marketable
:biggthumb
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
I am not talking about regional representation , rather it is religious.
I am talking about sikh because , because they are in large number in India.
and secondly you see a sikh character in every other movie.
And pleasently almost never in a negative role and surprisingly hardly ever in a lead role :k:
But different case with muslim characters. They are in abundance. Positive , negative , comedy or tregedy. If i remember correctly latest movie ‘Sawarya’ all the lead characters are muslim, Similarly in chak de india … There is long list of movies with muslim lead character, which is understandable as they are in huge number. Indian film industory is practically sailing smooth due to people with muslim names.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
There is Some weight in your analysis.
As in the movie ‘Rang De Basanti’ The lead character (Amir khan) basically belongs to a sikh family, but he does not wear turban and he does not sport a beard 
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
^^bollywood is sailing good due to the huge underworld and hawala money involved in it.so even if a movie it utter flop producer is able to recover his money.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
now there is one custom in punjabi hindu/sikh families if u r aware of it.in a family if they ve two sons one will be khalsa other will be hindu.
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
No i am not aware of it. and I doubt it :)
Would please give reference /elaborate
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
Amir Khan would look good in anything 
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
Its usually a tradition in Punjabi/jat that elder son of the family is raised as sikh.So u ve punjabi hindu and sikh surnames as singh,Arora,chaddha etc.I just knew it as by word of mouth and from some Tv serials. But then i seached net i found some interesting facts.
“Many Hindu Kukhran families, as well as other Khatri and Khatri-like clans (Arora), raised at least one Sikh son after the formation of the Khalsa in 1699, resulted in Kukhran family names, as well as other Khatri-like clan names, being present in both Hindu and Sikh communities worldwide.”
In May 2004 Manmohan Singh became India’s Prime Minister. When a person becomes PM it is natural for papers to show pictures of his immediate family. Mumbai’s papers showed his brother, Surjit Singh Kohli and father K Kohli. I wondered! This meant that the PM’s surname too was Kohli (caste Khatri or Kshatriyas) but for some reason he had decided to omit it. People called him India’s first Sikh Prime Minister. This confused me even more because neither did my next-door neighbor Vikas Kohli sport a turban nor was he a Sikh.
“When I asked 74-year-old Punjabi mother about this contradiction she said in Punjab there was a tradition where the first son was made a Sikh, dedicated to the Army. My next question to her was why did the Punjabis dedicate their first son to the Army? She did not have an answer. Here is what I discovered.”
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
yes thats true, i have my friends whose family follows that
Re: Indian Sikh- Why they are never shown as hero ?
^ I dont know but i am still doubt ful if there is actually practice as such.
A old thread i found the guy heard something other way around.
**
I wont be surprised that hindu and sikh claim such conversion as they see fit 