A little after the 5th episode of Made In Heaven Season 2 made headlines for its portrayal of a Dalit woman's right to have a wedding of her choice and the depiction of a Buddhist wedding being shown on mainstream cinema for the first time being lauded, New York-based author and journalist Yashica Dutt posted a series of posts against the makers of the show for not duly acknowledging that many of the instances shown in the episode were a direct reference to her life and her book, 'Coming Out As Dalit.' Following her revelation, the makers issued a joint statement denying of any such references, a stance that hasn't gone down well with Dutt and her supporters. Team Free Press Journal spoke exclusively to Dutt to gauge her side of the story.
Excerpts
What are your first thoughts now that the makers have spoken?
This (MIH S2) is a show that has been made by Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby Productions. These are people who are really influential, important and powerful in Bollywood and they have given opportunities to many directors to direct several specific episodes on the show. Two of them, I suppose are directed by Neeraj Ghaywan. So while Neeraj is an important part of this conversation, he is not the one who is the most accountable for this. I want to underscore that. The makers of the entire series are all dominant caste women with immense power and privilege in the industry, whether they started out that way or not. But at this point, they certainly are the decision makers. I'm not trying to take Neeraj's agency here. But at the same time, I think it's important for us to distinguish that I think this episode is a historic turning point in how Dalits are represented, on-screen. I've talked about how the Southern film industry has a longer history of engagement with Dalit cinema and their stories. But, up north, in Bollywood or the Hindi film industry, it is quite radical. Something like EP 5 of Made In Heaven Season 2 has not been done before. We just have never seen a character like Pallavi who stands up for what she believes in and stands for herself. We've not seen Dalits standing up for themselves, right? I think that speaks of the sensitivity, the talent and skill that Neeraj has that he was able to bring that life into this episode. But the idea of credit and acknowledging Dalit people's stories, I think that question more seriously is for Zoya Akthar, Reema Kagti and Alankrita Srivastava. I think these are the three who I would like to question because ultimately, they are the show makers, they are the ones who are controlling all the decisions. They are the ones who are the last stop for the entire discourse for this conversation. And if you are now feeling ready enough to take on Dalit narratives and representation, how are you choosing to go ahead with that? Why did this character not come into existence, let's say 15 years ago? We weren't here where we are. How did we get here? We got here on the labor of the people, not just me, but so many of us are putting ourselves out there, taking the heat, taking the hate, taking the bullying. I cannot tell you the years of bullying that I've experienced just for saying the words 'coming out' and that itself shows immense fortitude and my belief in my own self and my life story. And that's not a simple thing that you can gloss over or ignore. If these show makers who are extremely influential in Bollywood, feel ready to do this, they have to acknowledge why do they feel ready to do it now? Where does this history come from?
So how do you weigh in on the collective statement issued?
Neeraj on his part, acknowledged me on Instagram. He already said that this portion is inspired by me and I want to appreciate that, I have appreciated that. But I think the question is about how Neeraj spoke about my work and our work versus how the collective statement sounds. It shows how as Dalits, we speak to each other within the community and it shows how dominant caste people speak to us. They look down at us, they condescend us. They tell us that they are disappointed that I'm asking for my credit, which is a night and day difference in how I addressed my statement or how Neeraj put out his statement in the beginning. So I think they have been very clear about the power dynamics that are operating in this space right now. I've been the only Dalit in a room full of Savarnas many times. And I understand the pressure that it brings and again, I want to reiterate, this is not to take away from Neeraj's power. He is a very capable director, he knows what he's doing, but we have to look at the power differential that he has versus all the Savarna decision makers who invited him in that space to direct that episode. He didn't make the show. There are people who have made the show who are not Dalit, who have no understanding of the historical context of our stories or our narratives. And that is very important for us to remember at this point.
Is that a fair assumption considering the makers have often represented the lives of the marginalized before in their work?
I think this is not about the history or legacy of a certain filmmaker and what they've done in the past. This is about this issue right now. Our country is going through an incredible period of transformation. Muslims are under attack. That's for everyone to see. The stances that have been taken in the past, even by these filmmakers themselves have been appreciable. There is nobody who can say that they didn't put themselves out there by doing this in this political climate. But that's not the conversation. The conversation is when you take from the people, their labor, their stories that we have created by putting ourselves on the line, I want to acknowledge and reiterate the fact that I'm not a powerful person. I'm a journalist with a book who freelances. I don't have nearly the kind of influence or power or position or visibility as Amazon Prime Video or any of these makers that I'm talking about. So, the difference is very easy and it is very easy for them to take my story without giving me any kind of credit. It is that they don't have to acknowledge that there is a Dalit author who is living, who went to Colombia, who wrote a book about coming out as Dalit and who did the incredibly difficult thing of speaking about her grandmother who manually cleaned toilets. They've just that line like it doesn't have a history in someone's life and that's not okay without acknowledging the struggle that it took me personally to be able to say those words in America in front of an audience.
You can watch the full interview with Yashica on our YouTube channel
