ABSTRACT:
The paper analyses the musical romance drama, Saiyaara, through the lens of disability studies, and argues that the film reinforces the dominant stereotypes of disability by employing disability as a narrative tool to drive plot, presenting it as an individual problem and ignoring the social barriers that play a crucial role in an individual’s lived experience with disability. Drawing on the medical model of disability and narrative prosthesis, I examine the plot to demonstrate scenes that align with the features of the two models. Saiyaara reinforces the medical model of disability by equating Vaani’s impairment with her disability. Narrative prosthesis further shows the story’s application of disability as a plot device to accentuate drama. While commercially successful, it fails ethically by blurring impairment–disability distinctions and perpetuating limiting portrayals.
Cite this article:
Tripti Kandari. Saiyaara: A Disability Studies Perspective on the Musical Romance Drama. Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2026;17(1):23-6. doi: 10.52711/2321-5828.2026.00004
Cite(Electronic):
Tripti Kandari. Saiyaara: A Disability Studies Perspective on the Musical Romance Drama. Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2026;17(1):23-6. doi: 10.52711/2321-5828.2026.00004 Available on: https://www.rjhssonline.com/AbstractView.aspx?PID=2026-17-1-4
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