Tale of the Dalits: A Study on the Representation of Dalits in Selected Malayalam Films

Kerala’s film industry or the Malayalam cinema is an excellent illustration of how regional films and film industries in India are evolving in response to changing socio-cultural values and audience expectations. Malayalam cinema has a complicated history of growth due to its conventional paternal system, as well as the similarly complex attitude towards the different social markers such as womanhood, caste hierarchy, relationships, actors, the language of representation, culture, race and off-screen interaction. Through this research, the researcher offers a critical reading of contemporary Dalit lives in cinema by analysing three vernacular films, Kismath, Trees Under the Sun and Pengalila. The research adopts Bell Hooks’s theory of oppositional gaze is employed as the theoretical framework for the study. The concept of an upper-caste superhero has been so ingrained in Malayali’s minds that they accept it as reality, and filmmakers of the previous decades made no effort to change it. This article exposes the stereotyped depiction of the Dalit body and demonstrates how caste hierarchies are reproduced and shown through the social context of Kerala.