Today is the 131st birth anniversary of B R. Ambedkar, India’s first law minister and the chief architect of the Indian constitution. On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, we have shortlisted five must-watch films that have showcased some aspects of the caste system and its related inequalities and discrimination thereto or are set against the backdrop of the caste-based system. All these films are streaming on various Indian OTT platforms.
Jai Bhim (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Manorama Max)
Directed by T. J. Gnanavel, ‘Jai Bhim’ is an intense courtroom investigative drama that starts off with the story of a man from a primitive tribal community who is accused of stealing from an affluent house. Thereafter, he is taken into police custody and eventually goes missing. The man’s pregnant wife takes the help of an upright High Court advocate Chandru (Suriya) to find her missing husband. How the lawyer fights for the justice of the tribal couple, forms the rest of the film’s plot.
Masaan (Streaming on Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, Mubi)
Neeraj Ghaywan’s intense and hard-hitting drama narrates two intersecting stories comprising four main characters and is set amidst the backdrop of the holy city of Varanasi. The first story revolves around a daughter (Richa Chadha) and her father (Sanjay Mishra) being blackmailed by a cop. While the second story follows a poor man (Vicky Kaushal), who falls in love with a girl (Shweta Sharma) who belongs to a different caste.
Article 15 (Streaming on Netflix)
Helmed by Anubhav Sinha (Thappad, Tum Bin), the film is set amidst the backdrop of caste discrimination. The hard-hitting movie features Ayushmann Khurrana in the role of an IPS officer who is in charge of the investigation of three young girls who went missing from a small village.
Fandry (Streaming on Zee5)
The film was ‘Jhund’ director Nagraj Manjule’s feature film directorial debut. Set in a Maharashtrian village named Akolner, the movie’s plotline revolves around a teenage boy Jabya (Somnath Awghade), who falls for an upper-caste classmate Shalini.
Serious Men (Streaming on Netflix)
Sudhir Mishra’s Emmy-nominated satirical comedy film follows an underprivileged man and a slum dweller named Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who works as an astronomer’s assistant. Fed up with his societal tag, he concocts a story that his son is a science prodigy. However, the situation soon begins to spiral out of his control.