Examining the Presence of Dalit identity in Hindi Cinema

Abstract

A century of Bombay’s popular cinema has overtly celebrated the upper caste hero on screen. Major genres of Hindi cinema are stuffed with the Hindu-Brahmanical cultural values, social themes and political interests. The caste and question of Untouchability not even figured as the peripheral aspects of the cinema. The narratives revolve around certain abstract upper caste Hindu identities, divorced from the idea that in the actual Hindu social order caste distinctions play a crucial role. Bombay’s popular Hindi cinema though showcased artistic and intellectual agency by representing the problems of urban poor during its ‘Golden Age’ period, however the caste question is visibly ignored. Importantly, the problems of the Untouchables were discussed in the national political spectrum and the new Constitution offered them a new identity and special provisions to facilitate their entry into mainstream civil life, the Hindi cinema of 1950s neglected their concerns and voices under the influence of nationalistsocialist rhetoric. It is only in the neo-liberal era that the cinema industry witnessed the arrival of nuanced Dalit representation on screen.