Mis/representation: Hindi SVOD Platforms and the Construction of New Dalit Woman

Abstract

This paper questions the representation of Dalit women in Hindi SVOD (subscription video on-demand) contents. Located at the intersections of overlapping social categories such as caste, class and gender, Dalit women are viewed as “subaltern” of the subalterns. The peripheralization of Dalit women is also evident in Hindi cinema which is identified as a caste-biased industry (Dwyer 2014; Deshpande 2007). However, a new trend of portraying Dalit woman as an agentic subject has emerged in India’s evolving media ecosystem, particularly since the second decade of the twenty-first century. Employing content analysis method and the theoretical frameworks of critical caste studies and intersectional feminism, this paper examines the representations of new “empowered” Dalit women in Hindi films and web-series that stream on various SVOD platforms in India. It appraises the mediated claim of Dalit women’s agency vis-à-vis the phenomenal rise of digital entertainment platforms in India as well as the socio-political and economic transformations that have been underway since the 1990s. Furthermore, it problematizes the image of new Dalit woman by situating her within the context of reconfigured patriarchies and changing caste dynamics. The paper argues for a nuanced understanding of the politics of constructing the mediated image of an agentic Dalit woman, especially at a time when the popularity of right-wing rhetoric and the violence against Dalit women are escalating in India.