Till very recently, caste as a subject was reserved to slow-paced art films where we watched dejected Dalits in the very end of a remote village, working hard in the smoldering heat of a ruthless sun. In these films, a Dalit was characterised as someone who is dispirited, away from civilisation and poorly framed. Many critics then termed it a “realistic” portrayal of caste and filmmakers went home with baskets of glory and awards. No prizes for guessing that these filmmakers themselves were obviously from the upper caste.

The reach of art films was limited to the festivals and selected audiences. In mainstream cinema, the main characters, shot using high-definition cameras and glittering lights, belonged to the upper caste. Take the example of recent films: Shah Rukh Khan flaunts his janue in Zero, Dhanush plays a Tamil Brahmin in Raanjhanaa, Madhavan plays Manu Sharma in Tanu Weds Manu. In the Karan Johar universe, all the beautiful people wearing swanky Manish Malhotra costumes are Chopras, Kapoor and, yes, Malhotras. You’ll never find a character named Siddhartha Jatav or Saloni Valmiki or Priyanka Meghwal.

Even reading these names might unsettle you. They somehow just don’t fit into the mainstream narrative of Bollywood. So on one side, you have the universe of leisurely art films where Dalits are restricted to voiceless side characters and on the other, you’ve got the mainstream films where the word “caste” is akin to speaking aloud the name Voldemort, thou who shall not be named. How then do we properly deal with the issue of diversity in cinema?

According to a study, in the last decade more than 750 surnames of characters in films in India were upper caste. In contrast, a substantial number of popular Tamil movies from 2013 and 2014 had lead characters who were backward castes. How did Tamil cinema become a pioneer in dealing with these politics?

Kabali, a 2016 Tamil film by Pa. Ranjith, came a shock to many because the director had Rajinikanth’s character speaking about Ambedkar and Dalit empowerment. In Pa. Ranjith’s Kaala, Rajinikanth played a Dalit. Who would have thought that one day a Dalit character, played by the biggest superstar of the country, would walk on the 35mm screen with so much swag? Shot in the grand low angles and in the background of Tamil rap, Kaala was a glorious punch to orthodoxy and jaded stereotyping. Dalits finally entered the 4K frame, shedding their 720p past.

Bollywood and caste

Recently, the trailer of upcoming movie Article 15 was released on YouTube. Showing a recreation of the 2016 Una flogging incident, the trailer has over 14 million views at the time of writing this piece.

While the film and its success might be a game-changer, it’s important to note that it does have several flaws.

First, the movie’s protagonist is a Brahmin. He comes off as a saviour in the film who will “save” Dalits. This age-old fantasy can be compared to the whites in the West who are civilised enough to “rescue” a marginalised community. Mukul Kesavan in his book Secular Common Sense called this “behalfism”. This also undermines the tremendous struggles the community has handled on its own in recent times, resulting in revolutions across the country which, in the end, forced the government to change its stand on the dilution of SC/ST Acts, 13-point rosters and the Una violence. All this happened without a saviour but through the strength and mobilisation of the community—special thanks to the growing Dalit force on the Internet.

Second, in this film too we see Dalits without any voice of their own. They are presented as faint-hearted characters worthy of pity.

But despite these issues, I still think Article 15 can be a game-changer. Why? Because, at the very least, it will trigger a new conversation.

Article 15 features one of the most important stars at the moment, Ayushmann Khurrana, an actor whose last couple of films—Andhadun and Bhadhaai Ho—were smash hits. A top rising star of the moment featuring in a film which is starting a conversation around caste (it even names sub-castes) is a very welcome sign in the mainstream industry. Remember, this is the same industry where Karan Johar’s production house acquired the rights of a super-hit Marathi film based on caste atrocities, Sairat, and remade it into a Bollywood version by removing every reference to caste from the script.

Article 15 is, at least, not shying away and is tackling the caste question head on. Time will tell how successfully it does this, but at the moment, the very presence of the caste question in Bollywood is a great marker of progress. It’s a pleasant departure its rigid but unwritten policy. A conversation has finally started. Now it’s time for well-meaning folks in society who are fighting for the annihilation of caste to convert this spark into a fire.