Short film dissects the micro-politics of casteism in Tamil Nadu

Chennai

The 24-minute short film is a conversation between a couple who are from different political backgrounds and ideologies. “While having a casual chat at a coffee house, their political ideologies start coming up. This turns into an argument and at the end the two calls it quits. This is what the film is about. Many filmmakers try to avoid political content in their films fearing the response of the audience. But, I wanted to showcase the micro-politics of casteism and politics in Tamil Nadu,” says Dhinah.

 The two characters, Shruti and Arun, are played by Deepthi and Rishikanth respectively. The girl is a Brahmin, a BJP supporter and has a casteist mindset. Whereas, the boy is a from an OBC caste, who is a Periyar follower, but has a sexist attitude. “The film starts with Periyar’s famous quote: The way a man treats women is much worse than the way the high-caste treats the low-caste. And it is so true. Though many Dravidian leaders follow Dravidian ideologies, when it comes to women and their issues, they try to suppress women. I was brought up in a Dravidian family in the Cauvery delta region. I know many Dravidian leaders and have read books on the Dravidian movement and so on. Though Periyar was a feminist, many of today’s Dravidian leaders don’t support women. I took this as the main thread and started writing the script,” the director adds.

Modi and A Beer discusses national politics and cast politics in TN. Rather than muting the names of political leaders, Dhinah has maintained it in the film. “That was another reason why the film got delayed. I approached many channels and YouTube channels to release the film. But they wanted me to cut many portions, which I was not willing to do. Finally, Pa Ranjith’s Neelam Productions agreed to release my short film. Within a few days of its release, the film has created a stir on social media. People started discussing how leaders aren’t practicing what they preach,” he concludes.