Portrayal of Dalits in Indian Cinema: A Critique of Two Tamil Films

Abstract

The portrayal of Dalits, falls in two divergent streams in the Indian film industry,
namely, the Gandhian and the Ambedkarite. The Gandhian approach patronises,
marginalises and appropriates the Dalit history and imagination and tries to
maintain the status quo, moulding Dalits into Harijans. On the other hand, the
Ambedkarites are against this appropriation. The Ambedkarite approach
challenges the established aesthetic norms and portrays Dalits in flesh and blood
and not as type characters. Dalit cinema democratises the screen space and
challenge the hegemonic structure of collective imagination of people in the
society. Dalit identity has been portrayed differently by Dalit filmmakers. The
commercial success of Tamil films with Dalits in lead roles like Kabali (2016)
Pariyerum Perumal (2018), Asuran, (2019), Sarpatta Parambarai (2021),
Karnan (2021), and Jai Bhim (2021) is a new phenomenon. This paper aims to
study this new phenomenon of contestation of Dalit identity and their
commercial success. The present paper is attempting a critique of the portrayal of
Dalit identity in Indian cinema with specific focus on two Tamil films
Manusangda and Jai Bheem which released in 2017 and 2021 respectively.