Politics of Performance: interrogating history, memory, and appropriation in Babasaheb: The Grand Musical

This paper takes a closer look at Babasaheb: The Grand Musical, a theatrical production put together by the Delhi state government in 2022. The musical tells the story of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, one of India's most influential figures, who played a key role in shaping the country’s Constitution. While the musical generated a lot of buzz and drew in large crowds, it also raises important questions about how Ambedkar’s legacy is represented today. By analyzing the musical through frameworks of popular aesthetics, popular culture, and cultural labor, the paper argues that the performance sanitizes and depoliticises Dr. Ambedkar’s radical legacy, reducing his multifaceted contributions to a non-threatening, dominant narrative. The paper argues that the musical, while engaging, oversimplifies Dr. Ambedkar’s life by focusing mainly on his work with the Constitution. It largely glosses over his critiques of Hinduism and his vision for a Buddhist India - issues that were central to his activism. Moreover the paper positions this appropriation within the broader context of hegemonic cultural practices that seek to domesticate subaltern histories for mass consumption. It contends that the state's co-option of Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy in this manner reflects broader efforts to subvert and tame radical public discourse, ultimately serving as a tool for reinforcing the status quo. It underscores the significance of critically engaging with contemporary representations of subaltern figures in creative expression and highlights the potential limitations of state-sponsored cultural productions in representing marginalized histories.