New Delhi: The trailer of Dhadak 2 has disappointed fans. The brownface used for Siddhant Chaturvedi’s character, Neelesh, a Dalit student, has upset viewers. The film is a remake of the 2018 Tamil hit Pariyerum Perumal.
Directed by Shazia Iqbal, Triptii Dimri plays Vidhi, the upper caste female lead. The film will hit the theatres on 1 August.
Creative marketer and writer Vaibhav Wankhede said the trailer was underwhelming and criticised its narrow portrayal of Dalit identity.
“There are all kinds of Dalits,” he said. “But Bollywood has a habit of reducing them to brownface caricatures—they just can’t see beyond their limited perspective.”
Wankhede also questioned the casting choice, noting that selecting an urban Brahmin actor to play a rural Dalit character felt inauthentic.
“Bollywood still has a long way to go when it comes to genuine representation,” he said.
No lived experience
Goa-based writer and filmmaker Ronak Kamat observed that many directors attempt to build a “realistic world” far removed from their own lived experiences. As a result, these films are often shaped by an outsider’s lens or gaze.
“Gangs of Wasseypur works brilliantly because Anurag Kashyap is from Uttar Pradesh, and most of the cast hails from North India,” Kamat said. “There’s an authenticity that comes from proximity.”
Kamat points out it’s not just the cast and crew who benefit from experience.
“How many of the backers and financiers of such films are capable of understanding the nuances of small-town India and its storytelling? And what are their intentions in making these films? More often than not, for them, these movies are a market opportunity because they themselves are completely disconnected from the ground reality,” he said.
As a result, Kamat said, filmmakers fall back on casting familiar faces and relying on a shallow understanding of rural life—reinforced by stereotypes and assumptions—ultimately creating a distorted and ill-informed version of reality.
“This goes beyond filmmaking,” Kamat added. “Many gatekeepers in the industry hold fixed ideas about how certain communities should be portrayed on screen. Then they pour crores into realising that image—rarely stopping to question just how far it might be from the truth.”
Wankhede said Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan got it right. Saif Ali Khan played a Dalit character, Deepak Kumar, without any extra tanning or ‘brownface.’
“Jha knows his stuff. He’s from the heartland, where caste matters. KJo and team don’t have that lived experience,” he said.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)