‘Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Now and Then is about assertion of the marginalised and a new Bahujan feminist gaze’ Premium

In the latest reported incident of atrocities towards people from the Bahujan community, a group of Dalit and OBC students were forced to clean the septic tank at the Morarji Desai residential school in Kolar district. The principal and a few staff were arrested following the incident.

In the latest reported incident of atrocities towards people from the Bahujan community, a group of Dalit and OBC students were forced to clean the septic tank at the Morarji Desai residential school in Kolar district. The principal and a few staff were arrested following the incident.

Caste and all the problems associated with it continue to be an ugly reality in Indian society even today, eight decades after Dr. B.R. Ambedkar wrote about the annihilation of caste. A structural problem, it often goes unnoticed or gets brushed aside, thanks to the extent of its normalisation and a certain gaze through which people have been conditioned to view.

In her debut documentary film Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Now and Then Jyoti Nisha, a Mumbai-based film maker, tries to break this gaze and dons the role of the protagonist to offer the audience a new way of seeing things.

Ms. Nisha’s movie progresses through multiple events and stories - from Poona pact to Una Dalit flogging incident to the mythological story of Ekalavya to Rohit Vemula’s death - in a non-linear fashion, while also talking to prominent voices from the Bahujan community including film-maker Pa Ranjit (co-producer of the movie), Raya Sarkar who compiled the LoSHA list of sexual harassers in academia, politicians like Jignesh Mevani, Bhim Army president Chandra Shekhar Azad, and so on.

To all of their voices and experiences, the protagonist apposes her personal experiences and (un)learnings and weaves together a story of resistance from an angle unfamiliar to many. She slowly unfurls before the audience how caste rears its ugly head not just during extreme acts of violences that get reported, but in our everyday lives, all around us.

The feature-length documentary discusses multiple issues including the entrenched casteism in the Indian society, Brahmanical patriarchy, appropriation of Ambedkar, influence of popular culture, dominant narratives and importance of Ambedkarite values. The idea is to educate, says Nisha.

The film, which premiered at Dharamshala International Film Festival on November 7, was screened in different parts of Bengaluru in December followed by discussion with the maker.