How Bollywood Destroyed Sikhism

Sikhs are not considered as a separate faith but as ‘Hindus with turbans’ by many. Let’s discuss one of the biggest factors that led to this thought: Bollywood


It will be best to study this with the help of examples from Bollywood movies that are pushing this agenda. The movies I have chosen are the ones I have actually seen, there will be no doubt countless more of such movies that Bollywood has made since it came into existence.

Kohram (1999)

In one of the scenes in this movie, Amitabh Bachchan’s wife (Jaya Prada) prays for the recovery of their daughter undergoing operation in the hospital. She does so to the Hindu Goddess Sherran wali Maa (Mother with Tigers). I would add a reminder here that I have no problems with the Hindu Gods or Goddesses and their worshippers but Sikhs are not among them. This is completely ridiculous and promotes idol worship. Sikhs believe in formless omnipresent God whose name you can meditate upon anywhere regardless of where you are.

Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006)

This sequel of the first Munna Bhai movie teaches the Gandhian ways of handling matters in life, no issues with that. the issue is the character of Lucky (Boman Irani). This character wears turban and has facial hair, the character has no signs of being a Sikh apart from his appearance. One important issue the movie addresses is that of ‘Astrology’ and how it cannot predict anyone’s future. But who is at the center of all this astrology mess? It’s Lucky and according to astrology his daughter is a ‘Manglik’ which is considered bad and she cannot get married or cannot get married with a non-Manglik or something like that. Again, one of the very basic things like idol worship, astrology has no significance in Sikhism. According to Sikhism, stars or planets have no effect on your life. The movie could have been fine if Boman Irani’s character had no turban or beard but in that case ‘Sikhs are Hindus’ propaganda fails.

Aloo Chat (2009)

This movie revolves around the issue of Hindu Muslim marriage. So, this should have nothing to do with Sikhism, right? Wrong! The family of Aftab Shivdasani shown in the movie is doubtful whether it belongs to the Sikh or Hindu faith. The oldest woman in the house is shown reciting ‘Mool matar’ in front of First Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s pic. This makes this movie another frontrunner in promoting the issue of Sikhism and Hinduism mix-up.

Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001)

This movie highlights another common agenda pushed by Indian movies: The Sikh Muslim Hate. Sikhs have respect for all religions and Islam is one of those. Ninth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji laid his life for the protection of people of Hindu faith and given a chance Sikhs will do the same for Muslims or other religions. There is no rivalry between Muslims and Sikhs rather they share many common problems being minorities in India. But the main problem with the Gadar movie remains the same as other Bollywood movies i.e. ‘Sikhs are Hindus’ ideology. When Sunny Deol visits Pakistan in the movie, a guy says we cannot marry our ‘Muslim’ daughter (Ameesha Patel) with a ‘Hindu’ (Sunny Deol). Nothing more needs to be added about this movie.

Another Major Issue Worth Noticing

A problem that occurs and will occur with literally every movie with a Sikh character in the lead role. This problem is of ‘Love Stories’. a Sikh doesn’t engage in the time bound love stories with another human. A Sikh’s love story is the one with Waheguru (God) and Waheguru only. That doesn’t mean a Sikh hates humans, he loves them but he loves them all equally. Sikhs never have this ‘Boy Girl Love Story’ which is the reason why no Bollywood movie will show an ideal Sikh character ever. It can be possible if the movie is based on the story of a real Sikh but unfortunately hardly any real Sikhs exist today and if one exists, Bollywood would be least interested in his story. So, never in the history has any movie shown the character of a real Sikh? An animated movie called ‘Bhai Taru Singh’ based on the life of a Sikh from 1700s with the same name portrays a real Sikh character. Apart from that, I do not know of any movie with an actual Sikh character ever made.