I am Crazy about the Lord: The Muslim Devotional Genre in Hindi Film

Abstract

The study of the 'Islamicate' films of Bombay has focused on high-quality genres, such as the Islamicate historical, the Muslim social, and the courtesan film. This paper looks at a neglected sub-genre which it labels 'the Muslim Devotional', using the term from the well established 'devotional' genre, which is almost exclusively Hindu. Unlike the other Islamicate films which are concerned with religion only as part of the social and cultural life of Indian Muslims, these B-movies are about religion itself, both belief and religious practice. Mostly made in the 1970s and 1980s, they depict a popular Islam where divine intervention changes lives, and create a synthesis of Sufi and Shiite influences, often focusing on the shrine of Garib Nawaz in Ajmer, as well as other pilgrimage sites. The films share forms, images and music found widely in popular Islamic belief and practice in India.