David Bridges
Director Rahi Anil Barve’s Tumbbad, released in 2018, was touted as a horror drama that had more layers than meet the eye. It’s about power and greed and the monsters they birth, but now, a Twitter user has pointed out layers of caste-coding in the movie. Kiran Kumbhar, in a detailed analysis, pointed out instances from the film where caste is dealt with in understated but deft strokes. “The 2018 Tumbbad is among the best and most visually spectacular Indian films. Many of us know that. At the same time – what is less known – it is also one of the best Indian movies ever on caste,” Kumbhar wrote on Twitter.
He pointed out how the film depicted the generational inheritance of caste privilege and its erasure. It sheds light on how the Rao family’s sense of entitlement to the treasure subjects the entire village to wreckage. He said that while most reviewers focussed on the greed plotline of Tumbbad, few dealt with how the film also pointed to caste in Indian society. Following are some snippets from Kumbhar’s analysis posted on Twitter.
At the start, we are told thru the Gandhi quote on greed that the film is about greed, entitlement, & power – and within 5 minutes we r shown, thru the powerful lingering of the camera on Sarkaar’s face, that the film is about a Brahman family (& broadly Hindu caste elites) pic.twitter.com/s0e1AreQue
— Kiran Kumbhar (@kikumbhar) August 28, 2022
Then the snarky comments against Gandhi & the Congress-led Independence Movement – an absolute staple of many elite caste communities in Maharashtra & India during that time, and apparently a hallowed tradition even today. pic.twitter.com/C0c1sZlYIK
— Kiran Kumbhar (@kikumbhar) August 28, 2022
3) More sinister is the deft portrayal of how the little boy in the family also learns and absorbs the “hidden curriculum” of patriarchy… pic.twitter.com/0Y0B5hPKHm
— Kiran Kumbhar (@kikumbhar) August 28, 2022
This scene shows how historically, caste elites have always, when it suited them, flouted the so-called “Hindu” laws which they themselves created & still continue to impose on others, even punishing the latter for flouting (bcz that “hurts” their religious “sentiments”) pic.twitter.com/ms1bfmlGGB
— Kiran Kumbhar (@kikumbhar) August 28, 2022
Maybe I hav missed some good review. But it is unsurprising that these aspects just completely bypassed the radar of elite mainstream film reviewers in India.
Not unlike how the crystal clear “Brahman” on the board here bypassed (& was invisibilized by) the subtitles person.. pic.twitter.com/75SZeA1Y3O
— Kiran Kumbhar (@kikumbhar) August 28, 2022
Anyway, there prob r many caste elites in India and abroad who wud indeed like to further understand & introspect privilege. There’s a lot of resources out there.
For now I’ll leave Dadi’s little aphorism here: विरासत मे मिली हुइ हर चीज पर दावा नही करना चाहिये pic.twitter.com/IZ1NZdJXXJ
— Kiran Kumbhar (@kikumbhar) August 28, 2022
Actor-producer Sohum Shah said last year that the team had begun work on the sequel to Tumbbad but the writing would take time as, at that point, they were yet to lock the idea for the new part, reported PTI.
Troy Sanders
Clara Hastings
