Umar Nizar The musician AR Rahman has recently been castigated in certain circles for speaking out strongly against a lobby working against him in Bollywood. This has caught many by surprise. The huge fan following of the Academy Award-winning composer commanded has not really translated into popular support. The politics of music and the …
Time to destroy the stereotypes about Dalit occupations
Anurag Minus Verma Recently many of us have seen/read news about a few Indians thanking sanitation workers (read Dalits) with flowers for combating the corona pandemic on the streets. Such rare gestures look pleasant but this doesn’t change the fact that these are mere gestures1. It is no surprise that in these emergency times, many …
I am someone who thinks in an Ayyankali thought: Vinayakan, best actor
Dwija Aami and Sreerag Poickadan Malayalam actor Vinayakan has received the Kerala State government’s Best Actor Award 2016 for the Malayalee film Kammatpadam, recently. His interview by Jimmy James in Asianet News television channel for the programme ‘Point Blank’ on March 13, 2017, became viral on social media owing to his bold answers, straightforwardness and …
Did caste kill ‘Elvis of Punjab’ – Amar Singh Chamkila?
Pardeep Attri While growing up in Punjab, I was reminded by many not to listen to ‘Chamkila’. I could never understand the reasons behind those advices at that time and never cared to ask anyone as I was not a song loving person. Hence, those advices didn’t matter to me. After moving to England …
Sanskritization or Appropriation: Caste and Gender in “Indian” Music and Dance
Sreebitha P. V. Two recent articles in The Hindu address the question of caste and gender in Indian Music and Dance. The first article titled ‘Sanskritization and Culture’, highlights the fact that many artists from the field of dance and music have rejected and embraced Sanskritization at different points in history. The second article, …
Caste in cinema and music: the Kerala experience (Part 2)
~ Caste in cinema and music: the Kerala experience ~ A S Ajith Kumar talks to Dalit Camera Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes This is the second part of an interview with A S Ajith Kumar, writer, musician and filmmaker based in Trivandrum (you can read the first part here). The interview was …
3D STEREO CASTE
[Via buddhaneversleeps] ‘3D STEREO CASTE’ is a documentary series by A S Ajith Kumar that would try to capture caste in the music sphere. The attempt would be to understand how caste plays a key role in determining the practices in music, defining and classifying music styles and in determining music making, performance and listening …
Popular Culture and Ideology: The Phenomenon of Gaddar
P Kesava Kumar (First published in February 2010) The cultural sphere has its own advantage over politics in terms of pulling people into its fold. Through his songs and cultural performances, Gummadi Vittal Rao, popularly known as “Gaddar”, the Telugu poet singer, maintains the historical continuity of people’s lives and their struggles. He brings politics into everyday life situations and …