Anti-caste Aesthet(h)ics in Contemporary Dalit Cinema: the Case of Asuran (2019)

Abstract

Mainstream Indian cinema has failed to denounce the social realities of casteism, depict diversity and vindicate inclusion. However, the advent of globalisation and new modern media and social platforms have contributed, not only to reinventing the very dynamics of cinema production and consumption, but also to developing new film genres that dare to question and counter hegemonic ideologies and aesthetics. This is the case of Dalit cinema, a movement of visual creative art made by Dalit film-makers with a view to embodying and dignifying Dalit subjectivities and inspiring socio-cultural criticism and resistance. The main aim of this paper will be to show how Dalit films like Vetrimaaran’s Asuran strive to oppose the dominant aesthetics of stereotypical representation, thus denouncing casteist images and even developing innovative or subversive anti-caste aesthetics which prompt spectators to get involved in the ethical issues put forward and can in turn be labelled as anti-caste aesthet(h)ics.