Film Matters: Please tell us about your article that is being published in Film Matters.
Aatika Fareed: Minhal Baig’s Hala is a coming-of-age film revolving around the life of the protagonist Hala who is grappling with a lot of emotions and events in the quest of re-discovering herself. My article critically analyzes this notion of re-discovering in association with the her “unveiling the veil” as a means of glorifying the white male gaze and hegemony. Aside this, it also deconstructs various stereotypical elements associated with Islam as a means of understanding the origin of Muslim hijabi women being oppressed and how it further perpetuates a homogenous identity against a rising Islamophobic environment.
FM: What research and/or methodologies do you incorporate in your article?
AF: My article is interdisciplinary as it looks into the obsession with hijab by providing basis from history and its effect on contemporary politics. My article revolves around Edward Said’s Orientalism and uses works of various prominent Muslim feminist scholars while debunking the one-dimensionality of Western feminism. It also looks into the theological aspect of Islam in relation to gender and sexuality and concludes how it is the misogynistic setup that perpetuates oppression against women.
FM: Describe the original context for/when writing this article while an undergraduate student.
AF: I had written this article for my Generic Elective paper as a first-year student. As the movie was recently released, not much information or critical reviews for that matter were uploaded online. However, as time passed, I constantly developed arguments based on increasing reviews on various sites and realized its importance against the growing Islamophobic stance in Indian and world politics.
FM: How have your personal experiences shaped and influenced your writing?
AF: As a Muslim woman adorning hijab, I found myself not appreciating Hala as a first-time reviewer. It almost felt monotonous and degrading at the same time, to notice your identity being narrowed, to just being silenced, but also the stereotyping of a Muslim family as being misogynistic. I have personally been asked questions about my hijab and have answered with utmost dignity; however, the question of my parents forcing me afterward had led to nothing but a realization that media has the power in influencing cultural phenomena for gaining sociopolitical needs. However, as I started rewatching it a couple of times, I began sympathizing with the protagonist, although, I couldn’t help but question the intentions behind it.
FM: What aspects of the writing process were most challenging? Why?
AF: Writing on such a sensitive topic was challenging. Though I had an upper hand in terms of being a part of both the Muslim and South Asian community, it was imperative for me to not base my arguments on emotions only but also provide an in-depth analysis through citing different sources from the Quran and scholarly articles. Another challenging aspect was to understand my situatedness in correspondence to the situatedness of the director and the writer as she several times had mentioned her personal experiences, making it imperative for me to take her experiences and inspiration into consideration.
FM: What do you enjoy most about your article?
AF: I had written this article for my Generic Elective classes in my second semester. Right now, I am a third-year student and it is heartwarming to introspect my growth throughout these years with my professor who later became my mentor. Constant discussions I have had with her and the number of texts I have researched through were excruciating yet enlightening as I had the freedom in deciding the pace and had realized how it had just widened my knowledge with regards to my own identity and has allowed me to discuss things which I wouldn’t have been able to convey through other means.
FM: How has the Film Matters editorial and publication process impacted the development/evolution of your article?
AF: As a budding scholar, I am bound to make mistakes in terms of the technicalities of a research paper. After months of checking for a suitable journal, I landed on Film Matters and was only a week away from submitting my article. However, people, especially Liza Palmer, has been gracious to me throughout this process. I am indebted to the editorial team for providing me a glimpse into this strenuous process with much ease and appreciation.
FM: What audience do you hope to reach with your Film Matters article and/or what impact do you hope it has on the field of film studies?
AF: While academia has always been an elite means of propagating ideas and opinions, much has to do with the content of the article. Based on this notion, I have tried to democratize my content as much as possible without losing out on the technicalities. I hope to reach out to the young social scientists, people of diverse discourses and even the laymen interested in film and film studies in order to understand their prominence in influencing cultural phenomena.
FM: How has your department and/or institution supported your work in film and media?
AF: My department has always motivated students to inculcate and encompass the essentials for gaining experiences in the academic discourses. They have always been open to guidance while working on bigger projects like these.
FM: How has your faculty mentor fostered your advancement as a film scholar?
AF: From the first time I had shared my idea with Ms. Srinjoyee Dutta and the subsequent discussions we had corresponding to the ideas of identity, power politics, and literature, our relation has come far from being a teacher-student. It was gratifying to know her and her works throughout this process as it had allowed me to build a strong relationship with her, both on a professional and personal level.
FM: What advice do you have for undergraduate film and media scholars?
AF: While I don’t have a film background or any academic prerequisite with the film discourse, I have always been fascinated by the amalgamation of culture, history, and media due to which I took history as my undergraduate degree. Nevertheless, what becomes important and perhaps universal is to acknowledge your situatedness against the situatedness of the one whose work you are citing. Films and art in general are never isolated and will always remain subjective and even contradictory at times. Therefore, diversity plays a massive role in harmonizing these subjective notions, which is necessary.
FM: What are your future plans?
AF: COVID-19 has brought a lot of things to a standstill; however, I am grateful to the Almighty for the opportunities I have received and grasped within this time. While I will probably take a break from universities, I plan to throw myself more into writing stories, traveling, learning, and working on papers on my identity as a Kashmiri Muslim, corresponding historical events, and contemporary politics.
Author Biography
Aatika Fareed is a senior at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, majoring in History and English Literature. She hopes to combine both of these disciplines in order to explore the impact of literature and media in defining historical events, current political scenarios, and collective mentality. In addition to this, she is an avid writer and has recently contributed as a short story writer to two anthologies published by Swadhya Publishing House, Select Short Story: An Anthology and Swadhya Best Micro Stories.
