Masculinity, mobility and transformation in Punjabi cinema: From Putt Jattan De (Sons of Jat Farmers) to Munde UK De (Boys of UK) Harjant S. Gill* Towson University, Anthropology, MD, USA This article explores the popular representation of masculinity in Punjabi cinema and how it has changed over the past three decades as the Punjabi film industry has gone from being regionally based to increasingly transnational. I look at how within Punjabi films, caste and class hierarchies operate as mechanisms for visibly marking the cinematic representations of hegemonic masculinity. The heroes of Punjabi films often belong to the landowning ‘Jat’ caste. The performance of their masculinity is typified by their ability to move between different rural, urban and transnational spaces. This ability to successfully navigate the unfamiliar terrains of the world outside their villages serves as a rite of passage to becoming a man, a testament to their masculine affirmation. The construction of the mobile gendered body of the Punjabi hero within Punjabi cinema represents a privileged site upon which Punjabi cultural identity is articulated both in India and within the Punjabi diaspora. Introduction This article explores the popular representations of masculinity in North Indian regional Punjabi language cinema and how they have changed over the past three decades. 1 The changes I observe coincide with broader changes within the Punjabi film industry, as it has gone from being a regionally based form of entertainment and depicting life in rural villages of Punjab, to becoming increasingly transnational 2 and depicting the lives of Punjabis living in diasporic communities. 3 I explore how within Punjabi films caste and class hierarchies operate as mechanisms for visibly marking the cinematic representations of hegemonic masculinity. 4 The heroes of Punjabi films often belong to the landowning ‘Jat’ caste. The performance of their masculinity is typified by their ability to move between different rural, urban and transnational spaces. This ability to successfully navigate the unfamiliar terrains of the world outside their villages serves as a rite of passage to becoming a man, a testament to their masculine affirmation. Within these cinematic narratives, the transnational Jat men are assigned the tasks of upholding Punjabiyat 5 (a sense of being Punjabi) and recovering Punjabi Sabhyachar (culture and tradition) through the reproduction of the patriarchal family. In approaching patriarchy ‘as the conditions of dominance that permits the hegemonic power of specific hegemonic masculinities’ (Vijayan 15) this article explores how the construction of the mobile gendered body of the Punjabi hero within Punjabi cinema represents a privileged site upon which Punjabi cultural identity is articulated both in India and within the Punjabi diaspora. 6 ISSN 1474-6689 print/ISSN 1474-6697 online q 2012 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14746689.2012.682858 http://www.tandfonline.com *Email: HGill@Towson.edu South Asian Popular Culture iFirst article, 2012, 1–14 South Asian Popular Culture downloaded from www.tandfonline.com