Dalit Cinema

This article offers introductory remarks on the position of the Dalit in Indian cinema. It starts with the observation that the Indian film industry is an inherently caste-based, biased, mechanised product of technological industrialisation in which Dalit inclusion is not a moral concern. The mainst...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSouth Asia Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 503 - 518
Main Author Yengde, Suraj
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 03.07.2018
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Bahujan
Bollywood
Caste
Dalit
Dalit Cinema
Dalit relationships
Film industry
Hollywood
Indian films
Industrialization
Motion picture industry
Motion pictures
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Summary:This article offers introductory remarks on the position of the Dalit in Indian cinema. It starts with the observation that the Indian film industry is an inherently caste-based, biased, mechanised product of technological industrialisation in which Dalit inclusion is not a moral concern. The mainstream film industry in India delivers the desires and principles of market and society by excluding a Dalit framework outright-a problem now being addressed by the entry of an explicitly Dalit cinema. By briefly looking at two films, Fandry (2013) and Sairat (2016), both written and directed by Dalit film-maker Nagraj Manjule, I offer a critical reading of 'Dalit Cinema'. Taking the work of Manjule, a maverick film-maker who is establishing a new discourse of Dalit-centred socio-culturism, I demonstrate the extent to which caste narratives are absent in the Indian film industry.
ISSN:0085-6401
1479-0270
DOI:10.1080/00856401.2018.1471848