For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Sivaramakrishnan S In the annals of Indian cinema, few films have dared to challenge the dominant narratives of caste and colonialism as boldly as Pa. Ranjith’s upcoming magnum opus, “Thangalaan.” Set against the backdrop of the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), this film promises to be more than just a cinematic experience; it’s a potential watershed …
Dr. SPVA Sairam Many books and articles have been written on the emancipatory deeds of Dr. Ambedkar that touched the lives of millions, but very little information is available, at least in English, about the private life of Babasaheb. In this article, I will explore an exciting aspect of his …
Brahmanism and Politics of Production of Muslimophobia – I Bobby Kunhu This is the first of a two-part series of examples of the production of Muslimophobia in India and its hegemonic linkages. The second part is here. “It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned …
Snehashish Das There has been a new shift in Hindi cinema recently. It is not just to acknowledge caste in their films, but in featuring Dalit characters, as cops. Back-to-back, two films and a web series, Bheed, Kathal and Dahaad – released in cinemas (Bheed), on Netflix (Kathal), and on Amazon Prime (Dahaad)- have Dalit …
Neeraj Bunkar Cinema is being refined in many ways due to the rapid technological advancements and emergence of other platforms for disseminating film messages. However, in the visual cultural space, this approach of modernism, liberalism, and assigning assertive agency to characters is only limited to ‘upper caste’ characters but not to Dalit characters. Aside from …
Neeraj Bunkar The idea of the village has always been depicted through the eyes of the oppressor. Bollywood curated this in the visual culture and now ‘Over the Top’ (OTT) platforms are playing this role. A recently released web series, Panchayat, adds to this vision and imagination of the village. If you give it a …
Dr. Y. Srinivasa Rao Nagas or Dravidians, the first migrant communities in India, are mythicised as Asuras or demons in a socio-political conspiracy of Aryan Brahmins. The word ‘Asura’ has many synonymous words such as Rakshasa, Rakshasi, Shankini, Dakini, Yakshi and Pisachi. Some of these have acquired everydayness as words of abuse and insult. Rakshasi …
Neeraj Bunkar The movie Gehraiyaan is directed by Shakun Batra who has also written the script with Ayesha Devitre, Sumit Roy and Yash Sahai. The movie stars actors like Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Pandey, Dhairya Karva, Naseeruddin Shah, and Rajat Kapoor in the lead roles. Gehraiyaan has a lot of layers, subplots and …
Anshul Kumar “The assertion by the individual of his own opinions and beliefs, his own independence and interest as over against group standards, group authority and group interests is the beginning of all reform. But whether the reform will continue depends upon what scope the group affords for such individual assertion. If the group is tolerant and …