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In Mari Selvaraj’s 2021 film Kärnan, a small Dalit boy threw a stone at a bus for never stopping in his Dalit area, even for women in labour, as part of a centuries-old ‘social boycott’. What begins after that incident is the fight against injustice.
This boy is reminiscent of Dalit Jabya from Nagraj Manjule’s classic fandry (2013), which also launched a resistance stone at the oppressive ‘upper caste’ mob at the end of the film. Kärnanwhere does the play begin fandry‘Sends.
What has 2021 proved to be for anti-caste cinema in India. Tamil films showed that it is possible to be anti-caste and not ‘anti-box office’.
Read also: Lagaan Se Dhadak: The Dalit Problem In Bollywood And Refusing To Fix It
Indian cinema’s sore heels
Caste and racism have long been India’s sore heel, but Indian cinema refuses to address the elephant in the room, overshadow caste realities with a ‘rich versus poor’ binary or show it through the lens of pity , with an upper caste ‘savior’. There were also good films with a Dalit lead, but were too few and too far in between and quickly forgotten, failing to make a deep impact.
In such a situation, in 2021, the films showed something that did not happen in any other year. Not only were hard-hitting anti-caste films released one after the other, but there were also awards/recognition for actors and directors, and more importantly, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu and to a lesser extent box office success. . , Hindi, Movies.
Let’s take a look at this year’s list of special honors for anti-caste/social justice films.
Read also: How Bimal Roy’s Sujatha and Pa Ranjith’s Kaala show Dalit politics changing in 60 years
Special honor for Dalit films in 2021
Get. Ranjit’s Sarpatta Parambrai, showing the battle of dignity and self-realization of a Dalit boxer, received a special mention In new York Times List of ‘Must Watch International Movies on OTT’. surya-starrer Jai BheemInspired by Ambedkar’s belief in the judiciary to remove discrimination, outrank Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Saint (1972) became the highest-ranking film of all time on IMDb.
Marie Selvaraj’s Kärnan Starring a militant Dalit villager (played by Dhanush) Won Best Indian Film Award at Innovative International Film Festival in Bangalore. Tollywood (Telugu film industry) produced the highest number of films on anti-caste themes in 2021. love story, Uppanna, And Sridevi Soda Center – All showed Dalit characters as leads.
Vinod Kamble musk (2019), a Marathi film on a Dalit manual scavenger’s quest to get rid of the smell, Received National Award for Best Children’s Film. Whereas, Konkona Sen Sharma won Asian Academy Creative Award for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ for portraying a Dalit gay character (Bharti Mandal), widely praised by Neeraj Ghaywan funny story, wet pooch,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who plays a Tamil underdog – Ayyan Mani – in Netflix serious man received a prestigious Emmy Award Enrollment, actor bow Received ‘Best Actor Award’ at the National Film Awards for his outstanding portrayal of the Dalit character Sivasamy in the film directed by Vetrimaaran, Asurni, He too Received Best Actor Award at BRICS Film Festival.
Read also: Bollywood has miles to go before producing Kaala, Asuran, Karnan or Jai Bheem
Gradual change in regional cinema
It is interesting to see how exactly this change happened. Well-crafted stories of Dalits faced a kind of ‘untouchability’ in the mainstream Indian film industry. But the Tamil cinema industry, especially Pa. A constant guide by Ranjit Kabali (2016), Black (2018), and pariyaram perumal (2018), a film produced by him made a much-needed impression on everyone who witnessed the event and they too, including the upper caste filmmakers, slowly jumped on the bandwagon.
If Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi film industries hesitate to change, 2021 will surely force them to reconsider. This year has certainly reinforced that there is not only a huge audience but also appreciation for the accurate portrayal of Dalits.
The Telugu film industry seems to have learned something from Tamil cinema. Anti-Dalit atrocities have increased in Andhra and Telangana, including horrific killings of Dalits. Perumalla Pranay Kumar And Shankar As a result of inter-caste marriage. Still, Tollywood was shying away from making anti-caste cinema led by Dalit characters like Kollywood. 2021 changed that.
This year, three big-budget Telugu films were made on anti-caste themes. Buchi Babu Sana Uppen It featured the inter-caste love story of a Dalit Christian fisherman and an ‘upper caste’ Hindu girl. The film achieved one of the biggest Inauguration In 2021, however, it featured debutant Vaishnav Tej in the lead role. Apart from Uppen, Shekhar Kammula was love story and Karuna Kumar Sridevi Soda Center Which reflects the caste realities of India.
Meanwhile, Kollywood moved from showing only caste discrimination to showing vocal Dalit character. Director Mari Selvaraj Produces a Masterclass Kärnan, Here, Karnan (Dhanush), an outspoken character hailing from a small ‘backward-caste’ village, fights back against the establishment and wakes the villagers with subjugation.
Pa is returning to direction after three years. Ranjit gave Sarpatta Parambrai Showcasing a classic. It was an accomplished period film reinforcing not only the social assertiveness of prominent boxer Kaabilan (Arya), but also his battle with himself—the Buddha’s teachings of “Atta Deep Bhava” (Be Your Own Light)— Which is repeated in one of the songs of the film, Niye Oli. One of the enduring images of the film is when Kabilan is mentored by his Dalit friend with Ambedkar’s background on the wall, “This is our chance. Let your enemy tremble with fear.”
Jai Bheem Subsequently, breaking all records on Netflix and becoming the highest ranked film on IMDb. BBC, Independent, And Khaleej Times – All covered the film and its impact. Surya, who played the role of an Ambedkarite (Chandru), gave his all to get justice for the poor tribals who were wrongly caught by the police. “Jai Bheem” and “Jaibhimwala” have so far referred to Dalits and their greetings, but the film has largely changed the term to refer to anyone who fights for human rights. Portraits of Buddha, Ambedkar and Periyar, Voice of Ambedkar and Portraits of Justice Chandru credit Ambedkar’s writings and speeches were the first of their kind and would go a long way in attracting more people towards Ambedkar’s writings and speeches.
at the end of the year, jubilee released, becoming the first Marathi film to be released when theaters reopen after the Covid-induced lockdown. In this film, Santya (Ruturaj Wankhede) takes a turn as he reads the lives and works of Ambedkar, Phule and Shivaji Maharaj. The film also makes reference to Ambedkar’s major works. Who were the Shudras? and Govind Pansare Who was Shivaji?
Read also: Lights, Camera, Caste – An Ambedkar’s picture made a place in Bollywood 38 years after independence
box office success
Almost all the anti-caste films with Dalit main characters have done well at the box office. tamil movie Kärnan given to bow Best Opening at the box office despite the 50 percent theater occupancy limit. The film collected Rs 10 crore on the first day which was the best opener of the actor’s illustrious career.
If not now then when Sarpatta Parambrai Viewed in 150 countries on Amazon Prime, a . According to report good, Jai Bheem also enjoyed similar success. Despite the 50 per cent occupancy limit in Maharashtra, Jayanti was running successfully in its fourth week.
In 2021 Pa. Ranjith has been at the center of this change in Tamil cinema. Recently, actor Vikram announced that he was working with director Pa Ranjith for his next film titled chian 61, The director also announced his next production, Author,
While Tamil, Marathi and now Telugu film industries have come out to an extent to show the social realities and claims of Dalits, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada film industries are far behind.
success of Jai Bheem, jubilee, Uppen, Kärnan, Sarpatta Parambrai – all released in 2021 – has definitely changed the narrative. Bollywood can no longer ignore this sea change and should consider moving away from the fairy tale of upper caste tales. Nagraj Manjule’s Hindi Debut flock On Underprivileged Children featuring Amitabh Bachchan, which will release in 2022, could be a starting point.
In Jai Bheemsoundtrack’Power’, we hear the real voice of Ambedkar as rapper Arivu has penned the most catchy song of the film. his voice is bbc radio Interview In which he says: “We want untouchability to end. We have been running for untouchability for two thousand years, no one cared about it.
Director P. Ranjitho tweeted: “This is the community that saw [sic] Anti-caste and pro-caste balance. Here are the hidden and denied stories unfolding like the story of Ras Kannu. It will change our generations.”
In fact, if the films based on the stories of ‘Inkaar’ keep going, then the attitude of the coming generations will definitely change. In the real world, 2021 has been a sad year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but ‘Reel World’ has certainly given us something to cheer about. It has proven to be an accelerator of real change – one that will last us a long, long time.
Ravikiran Shinde is a freelance writer and columnist. He writes on socio-political issues and is a supporter of diversity. He tweets (@crib_it). Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Srinjoy Dey)
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