ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the question of the Dalit in post-colonial India through Benegal’s much-celebrated rural trilogy. The basis of these films resists the age-old discourse of the dominance of the upper-caste by giving narratives about identity assertion and empowerment. Placing the films in a historical context, this chapter explores the ideology and aesthetics of Benegal’s early cinema and its relation with history through the analysis of Ankur, Nishant and Manthan. The first two are set against the historical backdrop of the Peasant’s Revolt and uprising in between 1946 and 1951. The moral of the film is clearly shown at its denouement, when it ends on the note of protest; Nishant questions the use of violence in bringing about social change. Manthan, a film set in the Emergency, tells the story of the White Revolution and the empowerment of the low-caste village people, prevailing by means of co-operative dairy farming.
