These films also bring to light real-life caste atrocities. Telugu film Narappa (2021), a remake of Tamil film Asuran, followed suit.īarring Jai Bhim, all the anti-caste Tamil films mentioned above have protagonists from the Dalit community, a phenomenon that has now been normalised, thanks to directors Pa Ranjith, Mari Selvaraj and Vetrimaaran. Hindi film Dhadak (2018), a remake of the popular Marathi film Sairat, erased caste from the story and replaced it with class. It is to be noted that the other big film industries, Bollywood and Tollywood, continue to feign ignorance about caste as an issue. It is in response to the wave of anti-caste films in Tamil cinema that has rattled the conservative, casteist political class and society. The noise against Jai Bhim must not be seen in isolation. Anbumani’s objection snowballed into a major controversy as the PMK leaders issued violent threats against the actor, forcing the Tamil Nadu police to provide protection at Suriya’s residence in Chennai. In the scene, which takes place in the SI’s house, a calendar is shown in the background bearing the ‘Agni Kalasam’ (a pot of fire), a symbol of the Vanniyar community. Further, Anbumani also took objection to a scene where it is insinuated that the SI, who torments and murders an innocent man from a tribal community, belongs to the Vanniyar caste. The film had retained the original names of other important characters like Rajakannu (the victim who is brutalised), Chandru (the lawyer) and Perumalsamy (the Inspector General of Police who investigates the case). His name, Anthonysamy, is changed to Gurumoorthy in the movie. Initially, Anbumani Ramadoss, PMK’s youth wing leader and son of the PMK’s founder S Ramadoss, shot off a letter to the actor questioning why the film, which is based on a true story, did not retain the original name of the Sub Inspector (SI). However, before Suriya could fully soak in all the praise for Jai Bhim, as the film’s producer and one of the actors, he was hounded by the members of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).
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