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This companion is the first study of caste and its representation in Indian cinema. It unravels the multiple layers of caste that feature directly and indirectly in Indian movies, to examine not only the many ways caste pervades Indian society and culture but also how the struggle against it adopts multiple strategies.
The companion:
¿ Critiques Indian cinema production through the lens of anti-caste discourse;
¿ Traces the history of films beginning from the early twentieth century, focusing on caste representations across India, including Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil as well as silent films;
¿ Makes a foray into OTT media;
¿ Includes analysis of popular films such as Padmaavat, Masaan, Fandry, Sairat, Sujata, Article 15, Chomana Dudi, Lagaan, Court, Ee.Ma.Yau, Kaala, Pariyerum Perumal, Perariyathavar, among many others, to critique and problematise the idea of caste.
A major intervention, this book alters traditional approaches to 'caste' in Indian cinemas and society and explores new political strategies implemented through cinematic creation and aesthetics. It will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of film studies, social discrimination and exclusion studies, human rights, popular culture, and South Asian studies. It will also be of interest to enthusiasts of Indian cinematic history.
List of contents
List of figuresList of contributorsAcknowledgmentsShifting the GazeIntroduction
Joshil K. Abraham and Judith Misrahi-BarakFrom Spectatorship to Agency1. Dalit Representation in Hindi Cinema
Harish S. Wankhede 2.
To Kill or To Allow to Live: Caste Necropolitics,
Ozhivudivasathe Kali, and Malayalam Cinema
Rajesh James, Binu K. D., & Aswin Prasanth3. The Oppositional Bahujan Agency
Jyoti Nisha4.
Magizhchi! `The Casteless Collective¿ and the Sensorial Exscription
Dickens Leonard and Manju EdachiraMaking the Invisible Visible5. Historiography and Historiophoty in Anubhav Sinhäs
Article 15Debjani Banerjee6.
Arakshan and
Article 15: Is there any Transformation in the `Brahminical Gaze¿?
Runa Chakraborty Paunksnis 7. Visualising the Invisible: Decoding Caste Pride and the Casteist Slur in Bollywood Films
Sumit RajakThe Bigger Picture8. Over-the-top: Online Media, Chromatics, and the Transnational Travels of Caste
Purnima Mankekar and Sucharita Kanjilal9. Indian Cinema, Hunger, and Food: Family, Class, and Caste
Swarnavel EswaranCaste and Gender 10. Re-cast(e)ing the New Woman: Caste and Gender in Contemporary Indian Cinema
Megha Anwer and Anupama Arora11. The Construction and Representation of Lower Caste Women in Bollywood Films
Farhana Naaz12. P. K. Rosy and Devaki Bai: Cast(e)ing the Malayalam Silent Film Actresses
Geetha13. Examining the Domain of Caste, Gender, and Sexuality through Select Films of Jayan K. Cherian
Ved PrakashCaste on Trial14. Dalit Subjectivity, Democracy, and Radical Equality or, What Bollywood Could Learn from Ambedkar
Chinmaya Lal Thakur15. The Constitution of/and Caste: Portrayal of Caste and Legal Justice in Three Contemporary Indian Films by Savarna Filmmakers
Rituparna Sengupta16. Beyond Violence and Non-violence: A Study of Dalit Resistance and Accommodation in Cinematic Popular Justice
Ram Kumar ThakurThe Entanglements of Caste and Nature17. The Caste of Nature: Wholesome Bodies and Parasites in Bimal Roy¿s
Sujata and Gogu Shyamaläs `A Beauteous Light¿
Nicole Thiara18. The Pig, the Black Sparrow, and the Sheep: Human-Animal Entanglements in
Fandry and
KhwadaShalmali Jadhav19. Landless, Homeless, and Nameless: Locating Caste in the Environmental In/Justice in
PerariyathavarP. Rajitha VenugopalNot Two but Three States20. Framing Local Legends and the Caste Matrix in the Tamil Cinema of the late 1980s
Stalin Rajangam and P. Aadhavan21. The Alienation of the Other: Examining Marginal Narratives in Select Punjabi Films
Amandeep Kaur & Sahil Sharma22. Caste, Voyeurism and Kannada New Wave Cinema
Mahima Raj C.From Closer Up23. Exploring Caste on Screen and Beyond: A Study of
Chomana DudiJaishree Kapur24. Screening Caste: `Untouchable¿ Body, Labour and Remuneration in
LagaanPurnachandra Naik 25. The Untouchable Rajputs of
Padmaavat and Beyond: A Cas(t)e Study
Tanya Singh26.
Masaan, a Tale of Forbidden Love
Ravinder Singh Rana27. Beyond Narratives of Modernity, Pain and Pathos: Dalit Aesthetic in
Kabali and
KaalaReju George Mathew28. `
Ella Manusanum inga onnu illa¿: Imag(in)ing the Claustrophobia of Caste in
Pariyerum PerumalB. Geetha29. Caste, Coast, and Christianity in Kerala: Analysing the Visual Representation of Latin
Catholics in Ee.Ma.Yau. Grace Mariam Raju FilmographySelect BibliographyIndex
About the author
Joshil K. Abraham is an independent researcher. He is currently working on the Open University project for Cornerstone OnDemand.
Judith Misrahi-Barak is Associate Professor at Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, France. She teaches in the English Department and is a member of the research center EMMA.
Summary
This companion is the first study of caste and its representation in Indian cinema. It unravels the multiple layers of caste that feature directly and indirectly in Indian movies, not only to examine the many ways caste pervades Indian society and culture but also how the struggle against it adopts multiple strategies.
