9 films about the caste system to help us move beyond our privilege and become allies

Face the C-word

It’s the umbilical cord that the country still finds difficult to snap — seven decades too late. The caste system was rightfully abolished in 1948 as independent India’s constitution outlawed discrimination based on caste and untouchability. Yet half a century later, one’s caste is unfortunately still a topic of discussion.

Through 15 years of education, several official forms enquired about my ‘caste’. The significance and need for this information legitimises the uncomfortable questions being asked about systemic oppression, questions which have become louder, thanks to recent events.

If you’re privileged to live in an urban setting like I am — not to mention raised in a fiercely left-leaning household — you may have the luxury of being ignorant every time the dialogue shifts to the caste system in India.

“I don’t know enough to comment,” is a common comeback. Also, “I was raised not to look at someone’s caste.”

Like the colour-blindness plaguing the West, many Indian liberals have a chronic case of caste denial, where we like to think of ourselves as being above it all. Even if our households still have separate utensils for the house help. Or our building’s society segregates access to the elevators.

If the zeitgeist in the country is making you look inwards or sparking conversations within the family Whatsapp group, allow these films about the caste system to act as a refresher course.

Gritty cinema, crafted by a section of filmmakers who continue to disturb and educate, it will force you to take those blinders off.

From stories of star-crossed lovers and biopics, to a dissection of the corruption that chokes politics and education, these films about the caste system are massy enough for everyone to digest.

Who knows, this might even get Chintu Mama to reconsider his inappropriate vocabulary.

9 films about the caste system that everyone should watch

Ankur, 1974

Language: Hindi

Shyam Benegal’s first feature film and Shabana Azmi’s debut movie continues to be one of the bravest films on the caste system in celluloid history.

Surya (Anant Nag) quits higher studies in the city and moves to his village in Andhra Pradesh to look after his father’s farmland. Before moving, he marries Saru (Priya Tendulkar) but leaves the child bride behind.

In the village, he is smitten by a Dalit woman called Lakshmi (Azmi), the domestic help, whose alcoholic husband has abandoned her. Surya and Lakshmi’s affair becomes the talk of the village panchayat, and things get worse when Saru returns to the village to find a pregnant Lakshmi. Surya considers Lakshmi a threat to his social status and drives her out of his home.

This turn of events opens Lakshmi’s eyes to the plight of hailing from a lower-caste background and how little agency she actually has over her decisions and body.

Benegal’s debut was only the first glimpse of rebellion against the country’s social evils that dominated his filmography throughout.

Watch on Disney+ Hotstar

Sairat, 2016

Language: Marathi

Director Nagraj Manjule’s film serves an old wine (star-crossed lovers) in an older bottle (the obsolete caste system), but one that has aged incredibly well and shakes us out of our stupor.

In one of the best regional films in recent times, we see a rich girl-poor boy love story where the spotlight is put on the oppressed strata of the society, and from their vantage point, it’s painful to watch.

Classmates Parshya (son of a fisherman) and Aarchi (an upper-caste girl) are lovers. When the affair is discovered, Aarchi’s brother, Prince, uses violence to drive Parshya and his family out of the village.

Can the couple dodge the evils and find a non-judgemental place to escape to?

Watch on Zee5

Article 15, 2019

Language: Hindi

Sometimes it takes an outsider to restore the system from the bottom-up. In his hard-hitting film, director Anubhav Sinha places a London-returned IPS officer Ayan Ranjan in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh. It’s a punishment posting because Ranjan said, “Cool, Sir” to his senior instead of “Yes Sir”.

Loosely based on the Badaun killings, Article 15 dissects the systemic corruption within  police departments and government bodies as the office-bearers cover up the gang-rape and murder of three teenage girls from a lower caste.

Ranjan’s struggle to understand the cruelty dealt out to the Dalits in the country’s heartland is palpable. From a distance, it all appears fine. The closer you get, the bleaker the reality becomes. Can he be an agent of change here?

Watch on Netflix

Masaan, 2015

Language: Hindi

‘If it disturbs you, it’s art’, and by that yardstick, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan is fine art.

In Varanasi, UP, computer teacher Devi (Richa Chadda) is discovering porn and indulging in carnal experiences, but when that gets out, she is at the cusp of being ostracised.

On the other hand, we see Deepak (Vicky Kaushal), a boy from the Dom community (works at the graveyard) fall for a Gupta girl (Shweta Tripathi Sharma). He believes he can bridge the caste barrier between them with his engineering degree.

When a personal loss strikes, he realises that although he has witnessed deaths and burials all his life, this is his first time experiencing it happen to him.

The film sheds light on the current status of the lower-caste communities and adds a ray of optimism to the social structure. It succeeds in showing a tangible bridging of gaps in a lot of sectors in the country, but drills the message that we still have miles to go.

Watch on Netflix

Pariyerum Perumal BA.BL, 2018

Language: Tamil

Director Mari Selvaraj’s award-winning drama takes us to the interiors of Tamil Nadu – Puliyankulam village near Tirunelveli.

We meet Pariyerum Perumal (played by Kathir), who wanders around with his hunting dog, Karuppi. A tragic incident involving his pet changes his life, and Perumal, who hails from a lower-caste family, decides to be a lawyer like Dr BR Amedkar.

In college, he comes in contact with Jothi Mahalakshmi (Anandhi), an upper-caste girl. Mahalakshmi helps him learn English, and as their friendship turns into a romance, the couple wakes up to the harsh realities and the wall of caste that stands between them.

Watch on Prime Video

Manjhi – The Mountain Man, 2015

Language: Hindi

Tigmanshu Dhulia makes an uphill climb, but it’s Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Dasharath Manjhi who carries this mountain of a film on his shoulders.

Set in Bihar, between 1960 and 1980, it shows how little two decades could change the horrifying ways in which the members of lower-caste groups (the rat-eating community in this particular film) are treated.

Manjhi’s village is separated from the other world by a mountain. This other world is inhabited by upper-caste individuals and has no shortage of amenities.

The mountain stands as the only barrier between his ailing wife in need of medical treatment and hospitals. As he loses his wife, Dashrath decides to do the unthinkable: for the next two decades, he moves one rock at a time, breaking the mountain to build a road – his tribute to his deceased wife, Faguniya (played by Radhika Apte).

His fight with the bureaucrats and the authorities shows the great divide often visible in films on the caste system, and the story of Us vs Them that we are still grappling with.

Watch on YouTube Movies

Super 30

Language: Hindi

Vikas Bahl’s Super 30, based on the true story of the genius mathematician and professor, Anand Kumar, takes us to a village in Bihar. Kumar (played by Hrithik Roshan) grew up believing that “only a king’s son can become a king” and the caste and class system will plague the dreams of the ones at the lowest step of the social ladder.

He makes it a mission to coach some of the unprivileged yet brightest minds in his village to create geniuses under his program called Super 30.

He helps them crack the IIT entrance examinations and guides them to become successful individuals. While the movie faced a lot of backlash for its casting and colourism, the ugly truth of the story couldn’t be diluted.

Watch on Disney+ Hotstar

Aarakshan, 2011

Language: Hindi

True to the title of the film, director Prakash Jha known for his gritty socio-political dramas, tackles the issue of caste-based reservation across government and educational institutions in Aarakshan (meaning reservation).

Dr. Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan) is the idealistic dean of a college in Uttar Pradesh. As the Supreme Court grants 27% reservations to OBC students, he finds himself in a tricky position as tensions flare up between the two factions – Dalit students who find support in Deepak Kumar (Saif Ali Khan), a professor with lower-caste roots, and upper-caste students.

In the face of cruel political mind games in the education system, Dr Anand stands to lose the support of his close ones, including his daughter, Poorvi (Deepika Padukone).

Jha, yet again, holds up a mirror to our society that we either choose to ignore or turn a blind eye to.

Watch on Netflix

Fandry, 2013

Language: Marathi

Nagral Manjule’s Fandry is a well-rounded cinematic portrait of the social evil.

Jabya (Somnath Avghade) hails from the Dalit ‘Kaikadi’ tribe and attempts to woo Shalu (Rajshree Kharat), daughter of an upper-caste family.

His family is drowning in debt, and he has no way to purchase anything to impress his crush. But Jabya hatches a plan to accomplish his goal — it involves getting rid of all the pigs in the village, among other things.

Fandry moves at a unhurried pace showing exactly how slow the rate of change is for the people of his community in the society.
Watch on Zee5