Censors clear Anand Patwardhan’s latest, a political musical

Anand Patwardhan’s controversial new documentary Jai Bhim Comrade, on the systematic repression of the Dalits (or the Untouchables, as they were called earlier) by the state and the public, has been cleared by the censor board.

“I am very happy that my film was cleared by the censor board, that too without a single cut,” said Patwardhan in Dubai. “Yes, the censor board is more open and liberal than it was earlier. Or perhaps they calculated that it would be more trouble if they did not clear it, and it was better to keep quiet,” he said.

Jai Bhim Comrade earned a special mention at the Dubai International Film Festival’s Muhr AsiaAfrica Documentary competition section, which included Sandeep Ray’s exquisite Kokkho Poth (The Sound of Old Rooms) based on a Kolkata poet, shot over 20 years.

Rohit Pandey’s Mehfuz (Safe), a strong short film produced by Anurag Kashyap and starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, won the second prize in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Shorts competition in Dubai.

Veteran warhorse Patwardhan is known for his numerous powerful, provocative documentaries which he has been directing for over four decades. These include War and Peace, Raam ke Naam and Hamara Shahar.

Jai Bhim Comrade is a controversial, compelling documentary on how upper-caste politics, both of the Hindutva and the Left movement, have failed the Dalits, as have Dalits leaders themselves.

The ‘Bhim’ in the title refers to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, architect of the Indian Constitution, who was a Dalit himself. Shot over 14 years, the film is a two-part documentary of three hours and 20 minutes, shot by Patwardhan and Simantini Dhuru.

Though it occasionally slackens, the film retains a zest because Patwardhan constructs it as a political musical by incorporating Dalit ballads and lullabies. “The Dalits see Ambedkar as rejecting Communism because the Left has never taken caste seriously. I’ve had to do violence to people I knew [when interviewing them about this],” Patwardhan admitted.

The film shows the systematic state repression of Dalits, including how police officer Manohar Kadam, who ordered the Ramabai Nagar firing which killed 10 Dalits in 1997, roams free. The film also deals with the inspiring younger generation of Dalit activists like Sheetal Sathe.

“In a knee-jerk response, the government has branded them Naxalites, so they have been driven underground and are in danger of being killed," said Patwardhan.

"I hope my film awakens the people so they can come overground again. I can get away saying the things I do because I have connections, but if the Dalits speak freely for themselves, they could be jailed or killed.”