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Smita Patil and Girish Karnad in Manthan, one of the first Hindi films to showcase a newly independent India struggling to engage with modern ideas of economic development and social reform.

50 years of Manthan: A Benegal masterpiece that stirred India’s social conscience

The 1976 classic offers a nuanced take on caste dynamics, patriarchy, and rural development, showcasing Dalit characters as agents of change.
Harish S. Wankhede
A poster of the movie Swatantra Veer Savarkar outside a cinema hall in Mumbai.

Rise of ‘Hindutva’ cinema

Indian cinema hardly yields space to Dalit, Adivasi, or Bahujan protagonists. It continues to be an elitist, casteist project.
Harish S. Wankhede
A still from Jai Bhim.

VIDEO | Why Ambedkar is the new face of Indian Cinema

From Bollywood blockbusters to regional films and OTT originals, Ambedkar’s image and message are finding new resonance in Indian popular culture.
Harish S. Wankhede
T.J. Gnanavel’s Tamil film Jai Bhim (2021) uses an Ambedkarite perspective to examine the problems of poverty, police brutality, and discrimination.

Ambedkar, on a device near you

From Bollywood blockbusters to regional films and OTT originals, Ambedkar’s image and message are finding new resonance in Indian popular culture.
Harish S. Wankhede
A potter making earthen lamps for Diwali in Patna, in 2017. Kumhars or Potters are one of five EBC communities that are integral to Hindu rituals and susceptible to Hindutva outreach. 

Bihar’s caste survey can spark a new political consciousness 

It can empower the communities to demand transformative reforms in social justice policies.
Harish S. Wankhede
Leaders from the opposition INDIA grouping at a press briefing in Mumbai on September 1.

Can the INDIA coalition revive social justice politics to counter Hindutva?

It can transcend “social engineering” by substantively engaging marginalised social groups in economic and political processes.
Harish S. Wankhede
At the house of Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, whose family members were murdered in a caste-related killing in Khairlanji, in November 2006. 

The judiciary’s caste bias: Review of ‘Caste Pride’ by Manoj Mitta

A hard-hitting book that highlights how the privileges of the social elites, especially Brahmins, are preserved and defended by India’s courts.
Harish S. Wankhede
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