Who Is Ira Bhaskar? Swara Bhaskar’s Mother Faces Backlash After Criticising Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar Over Muslims, Pakistan

Ira Bhaskar is an Indian academic and a prominent scholar in cinema studies, recognised for her research on the cultural and historical aspects of Indian cinema.

She served as a Professor of Cinema Studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and later held the position of Dean at the same institution.

Among her notable academic contributions is the book Islamicate Cultures of Bombay Cinema (2009). She has also been associated with the board of the Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Bhaskar has additionally served as a member of the Central Board of Film Certification.

She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Delhi and later earned a PhD in Cinema Studies from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 2005.

Over the course of her academic career, Bhaskar has published more than 25 research papers and is known for adopting an interdisciplinary perspective in film studies.

She has also held visiting faculty roles at several international institutions, including Columbia University, University of Pavia, York University, and the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. In addition, she has been a scholar-in-residence at York University and has received research fellowships from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and the British Academy.

Bhaskar is married to C. Uday Bhaskar, a retired Indian Navy officer and strategic affairs analyst. Recently, Bhaskar—who is also the mother of actor Swara Bhaskar—commented on the film Dhurandhar, prompting discussion online.

During a public conversation examining the politics of contemporary Indian cinema, she criticised the Aditya Dhar directorial. Bhaskar argued that the Ranveer Singh-starrer depicts Muslims and Pakistan primarily through a negative and violent lens. She also discussed what she described as the ideological messaging within the film.

While acknowledging the film’s technical strengths, she questioned whether cinematic technique can be separated from the ideas it communicates.

Referring to Dhurandhar, she noted that it is commercially successful and described it as a well-made film created by a filmmaker whom she believes is ideologically aligned with Hindutva. However, she raised concerns about whether form and technique can truly be separated from a film’s ideological content.

Bhaskar further argued that the film presents Muslims largely through narratives of violence and criticised its portrayal of Pakistan, saying it does not show ordinary Muslim lives. According to her, the story depicts nearly all Muslim characters as terrorists or gangsters.

She also suggested that films based on real events often select and arrange incidents in ways that support particular ideological viewpoints.

The broader discussion also addressed the representation of Muslims and Dalits in contemporary Indian cinema, with the panel considering whether films emphasising humanism, secularism, and social equality still find space in today’s film landscape.

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