The Kshatriyas : Lab Rats for Cinematic Demonization

Originally Published on The Arch-Rebel By Aeshvarya Thakur

The Supreme Court recently remarked that it was there to protect free speech, but ‘𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝’. The remark was made when the court was discussing the script of the film ‘𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲’, which was alleged to be Islamophobic and derogatory to the Muslim community.

This is so brave of the Supreme Court to have taken a stern stand against demonization of an entire community and resultant xenophobia. But neither the Apex Court nor the progressive do-gooders have ever thought of putting a lid on the 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬. The 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 of Bollywood movies has made the impression of Rajputs as the 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞.

A long list of movies like 𝙎𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙗 𝘽𝙞𝙬𝙞 𝙖𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙂𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙖𝙡, 𝙃𝙖𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙡, 𝙂𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙒𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙮𝙥𝙪𝙧, 𝙐𝙙𝙖𝙖𝙣, 𝙂𝙝𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙞, 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚 15, 𝘿𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙠, 𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝙂𝙖𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙝, 𝙆𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙝𝙖𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝘾𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞, 𝙆𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞, 𝙆𝙖𝙗𝙯𝙖𝙖, 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧, 𝙆𝙤𝙮𝙡𝙖, 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙧𝙟𝙪𝙣, 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙢 𝙍𝙤𝙜, 𝙆𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙚𝙧, 𝙃𝙪𝙢, 𝙂𝙤𝙥𝙞 𝙆𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙣, 𝙂𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖 𝙠𝙞 𝙎𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙝, 𝙔𝙤𝙙𝙝𝙖, 𝘽𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙡, 𝙒𝙖𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨, 𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧, 𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙍𝙖𝙟𝙪, 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙖, 𝙆𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙃𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙖, 𝘼𝙖𝙟 𝙆𝙖 𝘼𝙧𝙟𝙪𝙣, 𝘿𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙑𝙚𝙚𝙧, 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙛𝙖𝙣, 𝘿𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙞𝙩, 𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚 𝙋𝙚 𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖, 𝙉𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙠, 𝙆𝙖𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙖, 𝙆𝙖𝙡𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙞, 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙢 𝙏𝙖𝙠, 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙞 𝙆𝙖 𝙉𝙖𝙖𝙢 𝙂𝙖𝙖𝙙𝙞, 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙖𝙮, 𝙑𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙖𝙩, 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙞, 𝙎𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢, 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙝𝙖, 𝙉𝙖𝙖𝙢, 𝘿𝙞𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙚, 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙝, 𝙆𝙖𝙖𝙡𝙖 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙖, 𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣𝙮 𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝙉𝙖𝙖𝙢, 𝙆𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞 𝙆𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙖, 𝙆𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙎𝙞𝙠𝙠𝙚𝙮, 𝙉𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙠 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙖𝙡, 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙮, 𝙐𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝙠𝙚 𝙐𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙙, 𝙒𝙖𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨, 𝙎𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙧, 𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞, 𝙉𝙤𝙤𝙧-𝙈𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙡, 𝘼𝙮𝙖 𝙎𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙣 𝙅𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙆𝙚, 𝙀𝙡𝙖𝙖𝙣, 𝙉𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙍𝙖𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖, 𝘿𝙪𝙨, 𝘾𝙝𝙝𝙪𝙥𝙖 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙢, 𝙕𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙧, 𝘽𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙖, 𝙄𝙣𝙠𝙖𝙖𝙧, 𝙌𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚 𝙌𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙩 𝙏𝙖𝙠, 𝘼𝙣𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙚, 𝙃𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙨, 𝘿𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙, 𝙍𝙖𝙟𝙖 𝙅𝙖𝙖𝙣𝙞, 𝙅𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙇𝙇𝘽 2, 𝙋𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙖𝙝, 𝘿𝙤 𝘽𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙖 𝙕𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙣, 𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙, 𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞, 𝙏𝙚𝙚𝙨𝙧𝙞 𝙆𝙖𝙨𝙖𝙢, 𝙂𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖 𝙠𝙞 𝙎𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙝, 𝙏𝙖𝙖𝙦𝙖𝙩, 𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙠𝙖𝙡𝙞, 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞, 𝘿𝙖𝙠𝙪 𝙃𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙖, 𝘽𝙖𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙖, 𝘿𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙖, 𝙋𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙖𝙞, 𝘼𝙖𝙜, 𝘼𝙖𝙠𝙝𝙧𝙞 𝘿𝙖𝙠𝙪, 𝘼𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙣, 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙭 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙚, 𝙚𝙠 𝙃𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙞, 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙮𝙖, 𝘿𝙖𝙗𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙜 have deliberately sketched a 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐲 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 and through decades of this villification, the filmwallahs have deviously 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭. E.g. In the 80s and 90s, Amrish Puri became a staple in Hindi films as the face of a cruel, ruthless landlord ‘Thakur’, who left no stone unturned to fulfill his desires. While there have been many other landlord communities in the Indian socioscape, they curiously remained insulated from this negative cinematic portrayal.

This goes without saying that this happened in Cinema, because the Rajputs had no large investments in
Bollywood, unlike other dwija castes like Brahmins, Banias, Kayasthas, Khatris and few liberal Muslims. Prof Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd elucidates the same in an article published in TheWire.in where he categorically points out how Brahmins, Banias, Kayasthas and Khatris remained the hegemonic communities within the film industry right from the beginning. The Hindi film industry was quite regressive at its core, even if had pretensions of modernity, which was a good marketability factor. The trend of projecting the Rajputs as the ‘quintessential filmy villain’ started during the 60’s, saw a peak during the 70’s and 80’s when an ‘angry young man’s rebellion was justified with juxtapositioning of an archetypical bad-man, sporting moustache, gunmen and a palace with a Thakur title.

This puts the spotlight over the 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝-𝐓𝐡𝐞-𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 and nobody seemed to mind it till date. And now, I wonder why !