AMATHIA, MASCULINITY, AND COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS IN POST-1995 HINDI CINEMA

Abstract

This paper theorizes a significant transformation in masculine representation in post-liberalization Hindi cinema through the conceptual framework of amathia, a Greek philosophical notion denoting moral ignorance rooted in arrogance and lack of self-knowledge. Drawing primarily from Socratic and Platonic thought, amathia is understood as the ethical failure that arises when power is exercised without reflective awareness. The paper argues that pre-1990s Bollywood masculinity, characterized by aggression, entitlement, and heroic violence, mirrors this philosophical condition. Against this backdrop, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) marks a cultural rupture, inaugurating a cinematic masculinity most prominently embodied by Shah Rukh Khan that rejects dominance in favor of emotional intelligence, restraint, and ethical self-regulation. This shift is theorized as the emergence of a “macholess masculinity,” which aligns with the Greek ethical ideal of self-knowledge (gnōthi seauton) and functions as a form of popular moral pedagogy. The paper further contends that the repetition of this archetype across popular cinema contributed to its internalization within India’s collective consciousness, reshaping normative expectations of male desire, romance, and authority. By positioning mainstream cinema as a contemporary analogue to Greek tragedy, the paper demonstrates how philosophical concepts migrate into mass cultural forms and participate in collective ethical reorientation.