The study of the representation of Islam and Muslims in the global media is an interesting, albeit highly focused, topic. Researchers around the world, regardless of their religious background, have explored different aspects within the tendency of representation and construction of Islam and Muslims in different forms of media. There is a plethora of research evidence indicating that such representations and constructions have taken many forms over time. Among these interesting aspects are the construction of Islam and Muslims as 'National Islam' i.e. the construction of Islam within national (local/territorial) boundaries and ‘Foreign Islam’ i.e. the construction of Islam outside national (local/territorial) boundaries. In this study we have attempted to find out and analyze how Bollywood has portrayed 'National Islam' and 'Foreign Islam' during the tenure of the current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly during 2019-2022. Within the premise of Forming Theory, we have conducted qualitative content analysis to analyze the content of selected Bollywood films. Our findings are consistent with the available literature and show that 'Foreign Islam' is portrayed more negatively than 'National Islam'. The portrayal of Islam and Muslims in Bollywood as a whole is problematic, but the content of films about Islam and Muslims outside Indian borders is predominantly negative.

Index Terms- Islam, Muslims, National Islam, Foreign Islam, Representation, Bollywood, Islamophobia, Hindutva, Framing