Despite the occasional film centred around a Dalit character, Hindi cinema has pretty much skirted around the realities of the caste system. This week, the poster of a forthcoming film, Madam Chief Minister, drew criticism for its problematic representation of a Dalit politician. Filmmaker and researcher Somnath Waghmare spoke to Sonam Joshi about the controversy and the importance of Dalit filmmakers telling their own stories
Sonam Joshi (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 10, 2021)

Your academic research at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai focuses on the portrayal of caste in Marathi cinema. What about Hindi films? Has there been a positive change?
Historically, the Hindi film industry has been dominated by savarnas and keeps putting out their stories. Even though Mumbai was B R Ambedkar’s city, he has zero presence in cinema. For example, Franz Osten’s Achhut Kanya came out in 1936 when Ambedkar was already a strong leader and had debated with Gandhi on the Poona Pact but it ignores this. Instead, the cinema of that time glorified Gandhi’s idea of Harjians but not Ambedkar’s social vision of ‘educate, agitate, organise.’ Bimal Roy’s Sujata, which was made in 1959 and has a Dalit protagonist, makes a reference to Mahatma Gandhi but not to Ambedkar. These were parallel and progressive filmmakers but they ignored the anti-caste discourse and portrayed Dalit women as victims and male Brahmins as saviours. This tradition continues in films till today, whether it’s Bandit Queen or Article 15. In the latter, the police officer who came from a dominant caste doesn’t know his own caste. Is this possible in India?

After criticism, actor Richa Chadha who plays the lead in Madam Chief Minister, which is loosely based on Mayawati, argued that it was better that she play the role rather than such stories not being told at all. What is your take?
This argument reflects caste arrogance. Let’s start with the poster which was problematic because there was no reason to show the protagonist with a broom in her hand.

Mayawati is a well-educated woman and a four-time CM. Was she ever seen sweeping with a broom? Her father worked in a post office and she was a teacher. It is a stereotypical idea of Dalits to give her a broom and make her look weak. Even if there aren’t enough Dalit stories being told on screen, no one is doing charity by making these films. If you don’t have the skill, capacity or understanding to deal with such issues, it is better to pass the mike to people who do.

Do you draw hope from the rise of filmmakers such as Nagraj Popatrao Manjule (Marathi) and Pa Ranjith (Tamil)?
Filmmakers such as Manjule and Ranjith have tried to break this narrative of victimisation. For instance, in Kabali, Ranjith takes a mainstream actor like Rajinikanth and then talks about Ambedkarite politics. Manjule’s Sairat takes the core caste question in the village to the mainstream with a lot of honesty. Fandry also talks about Dalit assertion because the character doesn’t die in the end. These filmmakers portray Dalits as normal humans. Most importantly, these films have an ideological position. For instance in Kaala, Rajinikanth is a Dalit don from Mumbai’s Dharavi and uses symbols like Ambedkar, Phule and Buddha. In Fandry too, you see the imagery of these social reformers and their ideas come across. We see more people from marginalised communities attempting this in regional cinema but in Bollywood, where dominant castes dominate, there are very few possibilities.

How can the film industry encourage more diversity?
There are many Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs in the Hindi and Marathi film industries but they hide their identity by changing their last names. In 2019, Neeraj Ghaywan put out a call on Twitter for assistant directors and assistant writers from Dalit, Bahujan and Adivasi (DBA) backgrounds. Actor Niharika Singh also launched a film training programme for the DBA community. This is the only way. People may abuse reservations but because of them there is some diversity in every government department today. There is an annual diversity report in Hollywood. Imagine if we had to create a report like this. The truth would come out.

What are the common caste stereotypes portrayed in films?
Filmmakers usually glorify their own castes while Dalits, adivasis and OBCs are shown as peons and criminals. Recently, there was an ad that showed a man with a Dalit surname as an online stalker, which was later withdrawn. I haven’t seen any character named Waghmare in films, who isn’t a criminal. During research, I found that post-Sairat, there were no Dalit stories but a reaction in the form of titles with dominant caste surnames such as Carry On Deshpande. There is a lot of anti-reservation discourse in cinema as well.

What about your own journey as a filmmaker?
I choose subjects that are close to my experience. I made Battle of Bhima Koregaon in 2017 because I heard stories of the battle from my mother and grandmother while growing up. I am making a film on Chaityabhoomi, the resting place of Ambedkar, where lakhs gather every year on his death anniversary on December 6. I am also working on a biopic of anti-caste activist and sociologist Gail Omvedt, who came to India from the US, and her husband Dr Bharat Patankar, who lived just 10 km from my college.

However, there is one thing that I discovered when I went back to my village in Maharashtra due to the lockdown — caste hasn’t changed at all. Your personal worth is still decided by your position in the caste hierarchy. Even if you do a PhD from Oxford University, they still see you the same way.