A DALIT HERO ON SCREEN

Sudhir Mishra’s Serious Men is not a film that even Indie cinema would have dared to handle. It is thanks to streaming platforms, that it got made

- Maithili Rao

Political correctness imposes crippling constraints. More so when you want to depart from the mandated stereotype of the Dalit as a victim. This is a problem felt across cultures. I remember how American stand-up comics, and other satirical shows that revelled in screwing incumbent Presidents, bemoaned that Obama was off limits. You could not target America’s first Black president. Someone with his good looks, grave professorial air, eloquence that had intellectual heft and emotional appeal, everything that made him charismatic, challenged writers of comedy and satire (except for white supremacists, of course).

A similar taboo, unwritten but dominant, prevails when you want a Dalit hero with grey shades to evoke an ambivalent response. For taking this on, you have to grant it to Manu Joseph’s debut novel that Sudhir Mishra brings to screen. Serious Men is seriously not a film that even Indie cinema would dare to handle. It is thanks to streaming platforms, that Serious Men could be made. A satire that takes on the elite science community, and a Dalit hero’s vengeance in a rather complicated, ambiguous manner, touches on themes usually considered untouchable.