Read on Twitter
A talk by Somnath Waghmare on the ‘Assertion of Dalit Identity in Contemporary Cinema’ at 6pm, live on Secular Art Movement Maharashtra’s FB page. #India #Dalits #Cinema #Art #onlinetalk #representation
Excellent talk underway. Waghmare questions, "How many Dalit students have graduated from FTII, Pune, and what have been their career trajectories? I'd like to know more." The talk is in Marathi (just to let you know). So I'm translating the best I can.
Where is the Dalit in the cinematic imagination today? Most film makers in the mainstream have influenced even the non-mainstream so much that the cinematic discourse still remains about the mainstream. #Cinema #India #Dalit #representation #regionalcinema
In Maharashtrian films, it is important to understand what the "hero" signifies. Notice the surname of the hero in most of the films. The dominant caste is everywhere. #regionalcinema #dalit #representation #uppercaste #films #India
When the Marathi film industry started to develop in Mumbai, moving its base from Kolhapur, the dominant castes (they still don't acknowledge that there's an upper caste agenda) from Rajasthan and Gujarat started to appear in the production of these films.
The reflection of caste in Tamil cinema today is because of the strong OBC movement and the presence of the OBCs in their production houses. Periyar had a huge influence on film makers there.
Cinema has always been an industry reliant on technology and social capital in India. The growth of production houses in Mumbai and its reliance on big productions has stunted the representation of castes across even Marathi cinema. Production houses are key to this problem.
There are Muslim actors in Bollywood. But where are the real Muslim stories? Waghmare's talking about a report on caste representation and lead roles in Indian cinema by a film journalist who writes for The Hindu, without naming the person.
Waghmare also references an old story by @sudiptomandal in his talk: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/05/indian-media-dalit-news-dalit-reporters-170523194045529.html #India #cinema #Dalit #representation
Achhut Kannya, Sujata and a documentary on Anand Teltumbde are referenced. Waghmares asks why #photographers who shot the Bhima Koregaon protests didn't also show the normalcy in Dalit lives. Apart from showing Dalits as manual scavengers, is there an alternate representation?
Talks about Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Masaan' as an important film even while located somewhat in the mainstream. Across India, even within Dalit representation, the "hero" of a film has a large canvas to himself. Where is the Dalit "heroine"?
The Malayalam film industry also suffers from severe casteism and racism, says Waghmare. Film makers like Ghaywan, Nagraj Manjule might have an identity, but the big actors always overshadow attempted diversity because of the majoritarian push and assertion in the mainstream.
Last year, there was a #Dalit film festival held at the Columbia University in New York, so that was heartening, says Waghmare. The online space has a Dalit presence where there is space for an informed discourse. Someone drops a comment saying talk about Mukta by Jabbar Patel.
On Mukta by Jabbar Patel: Important film with an Ambedkarite protagonist. Points to a group called 'Bahujanwood' in Delhi for interesting conversation.
