Interrogating ‘Anti-Caste Feminism’ of Manju Mai in Laapta Ladies

Abstract

Feminist cinema is vital in fostering feminist dialogue in society. The paper analyses the cinematic representation of Manju Mai’s character, played by the actor Chaya Kadam in the film Laapta Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao. Manju Mai’s character becomes an entry point to locate anti-caste cinematic representation on Indian television screens. I unpack the crux of anti-caste feminism, locating it in the visuals and dialogues of Manju Mai. I argue that the anti-caste representation of Manju Mai reveals how shame and morality are used as brahminical tools restricting women’s agency in the household and outside of it. I conclude by articulating how Manju Mai’s character is developed and derived from the ground realities of Dalit Adivasi women’s anti-caste feminist politics that challenges the binary of public and private as they invite the ‘unknown stranger’ into their private sphere, breaking caste norms that restrict the entry of this ‘unknown stranger’ into the private confines of the household. I arrive at what could possibly constitute a Dalit Feminist Gaze by analyzing this character in detail keeping my social location of a Dalit woman in watching cinema at the centre of this analysis.