In recent times, I have become deeply aware not only of my privilege but also ashamed of how little I actually know about India’s oppressed groups. For instance I didn’t know how the Vimukt Jaati or Denotified Tribes continue to face prejudice because of a colonial law, (The Criminal Tribes Act) that governed them in the past. For me, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste has been both enlightening and sobering reading. That is why the upcoming Tamil-Telugu film Jai Bhim starring Suriya interests me keenly. Check out the trailer:
Starring Suriya, Prakash Raj, Rajisha Vijayan, Lijomol Jose, this film is based on true events that took place in 1993. The film written and directed by T J Gnanavel is about a tribal man arrested on false charges who also goes missing. His wife approaches advocate Chandru for help who then pursues the matter to bring justice to the couple. The name of the film is symbolic as well; being a popular rallying cry for oppressed groups all over India.
The fact is that privileged classes know little about the struggles and the vulnerability of our marginalised communities. Hopefully, this film can help to educate and to shed some light on this social reality.
The trailer has garnered well over 4 million views at the time of writing; within less than a day of its release. The Telugu version also has about 2 lakh views; signalling great interest in this movie.
Like another recent film, this will make for uncomfortable viewing. Films that tackle Dalit issues and issues of human rights act as an uncomfortable mirror to the systemic oppression that has been perpetuated for centuries now. They speak of facts that we find hard to accept because doing so would expose our own complicity and apathy.
Fans of Suriya Sivakumar are delighted with the trailer; and in the trailer, we see why: a good-looking protagonist saving the day, along with the customary slow-mo shots.
Bollywood has rarely told stories of caste oppression in an authentic manner (save perhaps the ‘art films’ of the 70s and 80s). Hopefully, with this Tamil film, cinematic exigencies will not overshadow the important story of injustice that the movie attempts to tell.
This tweet refers to the film trailer as ‘atrocity porn’ and seems to have little faith that the story will actually bring out the struggle of tribal people. It expresses the view that the rallying cry of Ambedkarites has been misappropriated in the title of the film.
The movie Jai Bhim releases on 2 November on Amazon Prime in Tamil with English subtitles (the trailer was also released with subtitles). Viewers are hoping that the movie is also released in the Hindi dubbed version so that a wider audience can access it. I would venture to point out that any content is best viewed in the language it is originally made in – to best understand what the creator is really trying to say.
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