Kritika Kamra says The Great Shamsuddin Family normalises Muslim representation in Hindi cinema, telling a universal story where people are more alike than different, regardless of background.
(L-R) Kritika Kamra with Anusha Rizvi.
It’s not every day in Hindi cinema that one sees a story about a Muslim family, devoid of the community’s stereotypical representation. The Great Shamsuddin Family is a welcome exception in that regard. When we spoke with Kritika Kamra, she credited director Anusha Rizvi for showing a Muslim family through a new lens.
“I agree that the film breaks the typecast of Muslim representation on screen. I’ve been part of projects where there is a certain lens of looking at the community. Although those stories are important, you also need stories like The Great Shamsuddin Family,” said Kamra, emphasising that the JioHotstar movie shows that people are more similar than different, irrespective of their backgrounds. “We have much more in common with each other than not, but somehow we tend to focus on the differences. Stories like this tell you how similar we all are eventually.”
To Kamra, the dramedy — also starring Shreya Dhanwanthary and Juhi Babbar — felt so universal that the characters’ religious identity didn’t even register initially. “When I read it the first time, I didn’t even focus on the fact that it was a Muslim family.” When asked if telling such a story was courageous in today’s India, she replied, “I know that it shouldn’t be.”
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