Volume 12 : Issue 12.1 (2025)

The Hero’s Odyssey: Exploring Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey in Hindi Movie Narratives

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey is the universal narrative structure enacted in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. This paper attempts to study its representation in Hindi cinema via six Bollywood films: Chandni Chowk to China, Baaghi, Sui Dhaaga, Brahmastra, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Gully Boy. They are hero’s journey films, including protagonists on transformational journeys filled with trials, mentoring, and ultimate self-knowledge. This study illustrates that while Bollywood employs the monomyth, it shapes this umbrella story to their cultural distinctions, played out through deep family obligation and ethos, spiritual transcendence, and ultimately psychological wellness. Reframing archetypes like the mentor, the threshold guardian, and the supreme ordeal is carried out through the lens of India’s socio-cultural context. In the case of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, for example, compassion and sacrifice become key to the journey, whereas in Gully Boy, self-belief and ambition become critical. Brahmastra reimagines the heroic arc by weaving mythology and modern fantasy together. The paper also looks at how Bollywood’s differences—song sequences, elevated emotion—construct the hero’s journey, as well as the lens of genre, from action (Baaghi, Chandni Chowk to China) to social drama (Sui Dhaaga). Utilising Campbell’s framework, this study illustrates how Hindi cinema constantly reinvents the Hero’s Journey, situating it as partaking of both contemporary cultural and cinematic traditions.

Hero’s Journey, Monomyth, Departure, initiations, Return, Hindi Movies

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New World Library, 2008. Gopal, Sangita. “Reimagining the Monomyth: Bollywood’s Unique Take on the Hero’s Journey.” Film Companion, 2023, www.filmcompanion.in/reimagining-the-monomyth. Mehta, Sukanya. “Bollywood’s Heroic Tradition: Beyond Campbell’s Archetype.” The Quint, 2022, www.thequint.com/bollywood-heroic-tradition. Rangan, Baradwaj. “The Evolution of the Indian Hero: From Myth to Modern Cinema.” The Hindu, 2021, www.thehindu.com/evolution-indian-hero.