Baba Saheb's values missing in Bollywood flicks, but gains prominence in regional cinema

Until 2021 Jai Bhim was only a maxim-cum way to greet for Ambedkarites . But things have changed in past few months. When one looks up for the words on Google, details pop up more about the blockbuster Tamil Movie that was a massive hit across the nation. Jai Bhim, the Tamil film directed by T.J.Gnanavel, captures the struggles of Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu. The film is replete with quotes of B.R. Ambedkar and uses the Buddha, and also their powerful iconography makes it impactful. At 8.8, the Imdb ratings of the film has surpassed that of many Bollywood movies and closely follows the Hollywood classics such as Godfather.

The film is a reflection of the Ambedkarite framework, which has found credence in the cinematic work of South Indian directors. Pa Ranjit goes a step further and uses Dalits symbols and protagonists to narrate the stories of struggles suffered by the marginalised sections.

In Kabaali (2016), the Dalit credentials of the protagonist are implicit and Dalit iconography is used extensively. Infact, the entry of Kabaali (Rajnikant) depicts him reading My father Baliah, a novel by a Dalit author Y.B. Satyanarayan, which narrates the tale of an untouchable family grappling with gross injustices.

Kala: The 2018 film of Ranjith very skillfully tailors Dalit and Buddhist symbols in the film. The imagery has been used to juxtapose Bahujan protagonist against Brahminical antagonist.

Pariyerum Perumal: When Pa Ranjith donned the role of producer, he got short story writer Mari Selviraj to direct the film in 2018. Kathir and Anandhi were in the lead roles . Pariyerum (Kathir) wants to emulate Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who sends him to Government Law College. But his growing proximity with jothi (Anandhi) in the college discomforts her family and he faces numerous difficulties and caste oppression but he withstands every atrocity committed upon him. The scenes in the movie are made heart-rending and the twinge of caste is palpable throughout the film.

Asuran: Directed by Vetrimaaran,this film was one of the ten films screened at the 78th Golden Globe Award under the Best Foreign Film category. The film was an adaptation of the Novel Vekkai written by Poomani a famous tamil novelist . Dhanush as the Dalit Protagonist Sivasaami in the film succeeds in arousing warmth and sympathy for the character.

His 2019 film Sarpatta Parambalai has a Dalit labourer Kabilan Munirathnam as a protagonist belonging to Sarpatta clan. Kabilan aspires to be a boxer and practices with the idol of Buddha by his side overcomes heavy odds to get to the ring.

Malyalam Cinema

Kerala has been home to many beautiful actors and the state has also produced many classics

It was the in the year 1928 that director JC Daniel attempted to push the envelope in the world of cinema. He made the first Malyalam movie Vigathakumaran. The film also introduced the first Malyalam woman actor- P.K. Rosy, who played the role of Sarojam , a wealthy Nair women . But one thing irked the people; P.K. Rosy belonged to Pulaya caste, a dalit . Reportedly, her home was arsoned forcing her to flee to Tamil Nadu and live a reclusive life.

The incident provides a window into the resistance which the Dalit actor faced that time and how unthinkable it would have been to cast a Dalit in their films . Even in movies like Neelakuyil (1954) which had a Dalit girl as the protagonist, the roles were essayed by upper caste women

Although the malyalam actors could not muster courage to cast a Dalit actor in the lead role, they have off late begin narrating their stories.

In 2016 when Sairat and Kabali were ruling the Marathi and Tamil Cinema respectively. Rajeev Ravi directed Kammatipaadam .The movie is based and named after a slum in Kochi and touches upon the struggles of Dalit settlers and the land usurped by the land mafia. While Dulqueer Krishnan plays the role of Krishnan Shaum Romy plays the role of Anitha, a Dalit girl.

Same year Shanavas K Bavakkutty made his directorial debut in the film Kismath, incidentally the name of Dalit female protagonist played by Shruthi Menon in this film is also Anitha, while Shane Nigam plays the role of Irfan, the male protagonist. The movie deals with the dual disruptive forces like caste and religion.

If the land of Periyar and Ayankalli had their share of subaltern cinema, the land of Ambedkar too produced cinemas which moved the audience when they uncloaked the reality of caste.

Fandry: Directorial debut of Nagraj Manjule. The film deals with the aspiration and fantasies of a pre-teen boy jabya (Somnath Awgadhe) from a village near Ahmednagar. His family belongs to the Kaikadi community, an oppressed caste involved in catching pig and doing all the work considered dirty. Infact, the title fandry is a slang for the pig. The boy is in unrequited love with a girl named shalu (Rajeshwari Kharat), who belongs to an upper caste. Meanwhile his parents face the worst form of exploitation in the village and in the end the self-realisation shatters jabya and in desperation he throws stone at his oppressors.

The film captures the turbulence between stark realities and fantasies of a child. If Somnath Awgadhe steals the show the director Nagaraj Manjule also makes his appearance in the film.

Sairat: The second film of Nagraj Manjule may appear to be another film with a rich girl poor boy love story but the caste angle, which is often pushed under the carpet in Bollywood films bubbles up to the surface in this Highest earning Marathi movie .

Akash Thosar plays Prashant “Kale” son of a fisherman while Rinku Rajguru plays Archana “Archie” Patil daughter of a upper-caste landlord. The challenges of an inter caste couple have been depicted in the film and the inveterate rigidity of the upper caste people comes to the fore in the climax of the film. The film was well received commercially and critically. The Hindi version of the film “Dhadak” was criticized for muffling the issue of caste.

So while the vernacular cinema highlights the travails of Dalits through a Dalit protagonist, it is largely absent in mainstream cinema of Bollywood. Even in Article 15, which deals with caste practices in Uttar Pradesh the Dalit characters have taken a backseat and and are led by Ayan Rajan IPS, played by Ayushman Khurana.

Speaking to The Mooknayak on the issue as to why the Bollywood has largely buried the issue of caste Ramesh Bala, a film tracker says “ The vernacular cinema remains regional in approach and Bollywood has no home state and there is no rootedness and they are more commercial in approach and main aim is to make money.”