Divyesh Murabiya Nagraj Manjule, the much celebrated Marathi film director of the latest blockbuster Sairat, has much more to his credit than just this film. He started off his career with Pitsulya, a short film which won him a national award. He debuted in Marathi film industry with Fandry, which was widely (and critically) acclaimed, …
Why Manjule succeeded where the Benegals have failed
Vaibhav Wasnik Now for starters, I have not seen this movie Sairat. But as will be obvious, everything I have written below will remain the same after I see the movie. The fact that the director Mr Manjule is from our Ambedkarite community, working in a medium with hardly any representation from us dalits, …
Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bharadwaj: The pimps of brahminical patriarchy
Arvind Shesh Into the darkness of superstitions: • In May 2012, the government, in response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha, clarified that in the period 2008-2010, 528 women were murdered on the suspicion of being witches (daayans). Cases of beating and torture are not included in this. • In July 2012, …
Is Brahmeshwar Mukhiya Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Bihar ka lala’?
Arvind Shesh Continued from here. ‘Jiyo re bihar ke lala’ (Long live the son of Bihar): Immortalising Brahmeshwar Mukhiya Whether or not the viewers of the movie (Gangs of Wasseypur) remember much of it, they will certainly not forget the last scene: Sardar Khan and his son have become so generous that they make …
From Fandry to Masaan – The Journey of Shaalu
Nishant Roy Bombarde For times immemorial, the Ganges has marked the geography, history & mythology of the concept that we call India today. Mighty empires have risen & fallen on its banks. It has been the lifeline of the populace inhabiting the neighbouring areas for centuries. But her most important purpose makes her stand …
Revolver Rani is not Phoolan Devi
Atul Anand The film ‘Revolver Rani’ is about a Chambal based female dacoit/politician Alka Singh (Kangna Ranaut). She takes up arms after her father is killed by his upper caste brethren. She dresses up like a cross between Michael Jackson and Phoolan Devi. Unlike Phoolan Devi she wasn’t compelled to take up arms because …
The Semiotics of Fandry
Nilesh Kumar “Wisdom is born in pain, suppression and insult. Experiences lead to the creation of best works” Kannada poet Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy said in a speech at Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Madikeri, early this year. Director/writer Nagraj Manjule too, in his debut feature film ‘Fandry’ (pig in Kaikadi language), with his indelible …
The roots of rape in India
Kancha Ilaiah Rape has, of late, become an acute disease in the Indian society. Prima facie, this is a problem arising out of a mental disorder, but there is also a larger cultural context that, to an extent, explains how the Indian male became so brutal. Our cultural upbringing conditions male minds to behave …
‘Don’t be our fathers’: Celebration and Assertion are Politics too
Rupesh Kumar Sometime back my friend Ajith posed a couple of questions about my documentary “Don’t be our fathers” in his article (Dalitizing cinema : A critique of Rupesh Kumar’s ‘Don’t be our fathers‘) on Round Table India. The nature of that text by itself needs a separate analysis. But for now, I shall …