New Delhi: Brahmins are angry. Three words that have led to several scenes being modified in the upcoming Jyotirao Phule biopic.
As many filmmakers have called out the sheer hypocrisy of the outrage and the cuts, the Dalit-Bahujan and Ambedkarite communities are looking forward to the release of the film with optimism. Directed by Anant Mahadevan, the film will be the first to have the potential to make Phule’s exemplary work travel outside Maharashtra.
The upcoming film Phule, even with cuts, could still make him a household name across the country, much like Ambedkar is today, Dalits say.
“Our people are excited about the movie because it is the first time a film on Phule has been made in Hindi. Big figures from the anti-caste movement, or from marginalised communities, get little attention in academia. And nobody makes biopics on them,” said Tejas Harad, a Phule-Ambedkarite, founder and editor of The Satyashodhak, and PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania.
Phule is widely known in Maharashtra, and biographical films have been made on him before. But Bollywood brings with it a certain mainstreaming, he added.
Starring Pratik Gandhi as Jyotirao Phule and Patralekha as Savitribai Phule, the Hindi biopic was initially set to release on 11 April, Phule’s birth anniversary. However, after the trailer was released, the film certification body bristled at certain scenes, and also angered Brahmins in Maharashtra.
A more sanitised version of Phule, incorporating a slew of changes requested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), will be released on 25 April.
This isn’t the first time a filmmaker has tried to make the story of revolutionary educators and social reformers Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule leap from history books to the big screen, with the Marathi films Mahatma Phule (1954) and Satyashodhak (2024) being prominent examples. But no film on Phule, a pioneering anti-caste icon in Maharashtra, could ever claim countrywide fame.
“There was a biopic on Ambedkar many years back, and that was the only one. And I don’t remember any other biopic about somebody from the anti-caste movement across India,” said Harad.
Phule showcases Jyotirao and Savitribai’s fight against caste and gender discrimination in 19th-century India. It also focuses on their contribution to women’s education, including the founding of the first girls’ school in 1848. For many, Phule is the Periyar of Maharashtra.
“We have not cut any scenes from the movie, but we have removed the words that we were requested to change,” director Ananth Mahadevan told ThePrint.
Also Read: ‘There’s no Phule without Brahmins,’ Anant Mahadevan dismisses Hindu Mahasangh’s claim
Offence at offence
In a document now viral on social media, the CBFC has insisted on removing terms like ‘Mahar’, ‘Mang’, ‘Peshwai’, and ‘Manu system of caste’. The filmmakers were also asked to modify certain dialogues.
For example, the line “Jahan Shudro ko… jhadu bandhkar chalna chahiye” (Where Shudras must walk with a broom tied behind them) was asked to be changed to “Kya yahi hamari… sabse doori banake rakhni chahiye” (Is this why we… must be kept at the greatest distance?). Similarly, “3,000 saal puraani… gulaami” (3,000 years of slavery) was instructed to be softened to “Kai saal purani hai” (It’s been going on for many years).
A Maharashtra-based organisation, the Hindu Mahasangh, also objected to the portrayal of Brahmins in the film. It specifically cited a scene in the trailer where a Brahmin boy throws cow dung at Savitribai.
The objection, however, hasn’t gone uncontested, with anti-caste activists noting that the scene is historically accurate. And that there is hypocrisy at play too.
“Brahmin kids throwing cow dung on Savitribai Phule is a fact. These were orthodox practices of the time. Movies made on Kashmir, JNU, and Kerala got an easy pass from the certification board, but a film on Phule is asked to omit scenes,” said Subodh More, senior cultural and social activist and former general secretary of the Vidrohi Stree Sahitya Sammelan, an anti-caste movement.
He also told ThePrint that if a movie on Ambedkar is made someday, Brahmins will once again claim their sentiments are hurt.
“Babasaheb burnt the Manusmriti, and if this is shown in a movie, Brahmins will say our pure book of Dharma is being burnt,” he said.
Now, the excitement and anticipation within the Dalit community is tinged with caution.
“There is cautious excitement among Ambedkarites. We don’t know the director, and he’s not from Maharashtra. Most of the text on Phule is in Marathi. Unless you know those sources well, there’s a chance of getting facts wrong. The Bahujan Samaj is worried about how Phule will be portrayed,” said Tejas Harad.
Some also speculate that the controversial scene in the trailer may have been deliberately chosen.
“To see this entire controversy through my Bollywood lens, I think he (the director) included this scene in the trailer so the movie would get a good opening,” said Vaibhav Wankhede, creative marketer and writer.
Also Read: Phule biopic ‘Satyashodhak’ whitewashes Brahmin oppression, plays into political agendas
Selective anger, muted response
The Marathi film Satyashodhak on Phule was released just last year. But it didn’t face any opposition, either from Brahmins or the film certification board.
“Satyashodhak might have faced some minor hurdles, but there was no controversy,” said Mayur Kudupale, a research scholar in sociology. “This film is receiving opposition from the Brahmin Mahasangh and Brahmin women. It’s disappointing. The Phule couple worked for the education of women in Maharashtra. It is disappointing to see that the movie is receiving flak from Brahmin women who were the biggest beneficiaries from Phule reforms.”
Since the controversy, a number of people have posted on social media against the changes requested by the CBFC as well as the opposition from Brahmin groups.
Anti-caste voices have pushed back on social media platforms, but the political establishment has looked the other way.
On Thursday, director Anurag Kashyap posted on Instagram in support of the film.
“Punjab 95, Tees, Dhadak 2, Phule — I don’t know how many other films are blocked… this casteist, regionalist, racist government is so ashamed to see their own face in the mirror,” he wrote. “They can’t even openly say what bothers them. F***ing cowards.”
However, a few days later he apologised for his remarks. “I forgot my decorum while responding to someone and ended up speaking ill of the entire Brahmin community…I sincerely apologize to this community.”
But the outrage over the cuts hasn’t gone from social media to the streets.
“People are talking about the issue in pockets right now. However, the government has continued to remain silent. There have been no organised protests. There have been no media debates,” said Subodh More. “This matter is not being discussed aggressively as it should be.”
This article has been updated to reflect Anurag Kashyap’s later comments.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)