Caste and Cinema- a Sociological Analysis of Caste Representation in India Cinema

Abstract

From historical times Indian society has seen atrocities based on the caste ideology. Caste has been studied from different frames by different intellectuals in academia and sociology and anthropology being an important discipline in studying it. Cinema as an art form and seen as a reflection of the society which represents the different aspects of the society through a cinematic lens gives the societal subject a totally different frame to see and observe the society for the people living in the same society where social problems like Casteism exists. Indian cinema has reflected the concept of caste through different angles and connotations like untouchability, honor killing in the situations of inter-caste marriage, and difference of problems in different locations like rural & urban and people dealing it with a difference. Thus, this paper focuses on and tries to understand the caste hierarchy represented in the cinema and the history and memory of Indian cinema. The study focuses on different decades of cinema generally from the 1980s to the current era and will try to explain how cinema has used the concept of caste in showcasing the practice and discrimination around it and the changes in the mindset of people while discussing the caste. For this work, a qualitative research method has been used. Films such as Achhut Kanya, Damul, Aakrosh, Sairat, Masaan, Court, Chandidas, Sujata, Ankur, etc from different decades have been studied and analyzed.