“I Choose My Husband and Child”: A Semiotic–Feminist Reading of Sakina in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Author: Dr. Krushna Chandra Mishra

Keywords: semiotics, feminist film theory, Sakina, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Partition cinema, Bollywood melodrama, agency, citizenship

Abstract: This article undertakes a semiotic–feminist reading of Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (Anil Sharma, 2001) by focusing on Sakina’s assertion, “I choose my husband and child.” The line, delivered at the height of the film’s melodramatic intensity, signals a critical point where a female character claims subjectivity within a narrative otherwise driven by patriarchal, national, and communal forces. Drawing upon Barthesian and Peircean semiotics alongside feminist film theory, the article decodes Sakina’s moment of choice through mise-en-scène, dialogue, and intertextual codes. The analysis situates the film within the tradition of Partition cinema and Bollywood melodrama, highlighting how gendered agency intersects with nationalist allegory and familial duty. By rereading Sakina not merely as an emblem of sacrifice or communal reconciliation but as a semiotic site of resistance and self-assertion, the article reorients critical discussions on Gadar. Ultimately, it argues that Sakina’s line destabilizes the film’s otherwise homogenizing vision of nation and family, opening a feminist interpretive space within popular Hindi cinema’s representation of Partition.

Article Info: Received: 11 Sep 2025; Received in revised form: 09 Oct 2025; Accepted: 14 Oct 2025; Available online: 19 Oct 2025

DOI: 10.22161/ijeel.4.5.14

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