Cinematic Representation of Dalit Heritage: An Ambedkarite Reading of OTT Platforms

The paper will look into the representations of the Dalit heritage in Indian Over-the-Top (OTT) productions in the years 2014 - 2025 through the prism of the Ambedkarite critical theory. Based on the original ideas of B.R. Ambedkar of dignity, domination, humiliation, and cultural assertion, the paper examines the reproduction by streaming sites or the resistance against caste hierarchies in streaming platforms through content. The analysis, based on qualitative textual analysis of both films and web series posted on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney plus Hotstar, Zee5, and SonyLIV, the research singles out two opposite patterns of representation: hegemonic savarna narrative, which marginalises the Dalit characters through victimhood motives, stereotyping, and upper-caste saviour narrative; and counter-hegemonic Dalit cinema which puts the Dalit characters in the centre of the frame in terms of centrality, historical awareness, and anti-caste aesthetics. The paper shows that on the one hand, with OTT, there is increased access to a variety of narratives, on the other hand, these platforms are also contested spaces which code caste hierarchies through algorithmic forms of curation and commissioning. Where the image of Dalit dignity, heritage, and cultural assertion are put in the centre, an Ambedkarite structure suggests that representation is a form of politics: this is a precondition to destroying caste in visual culture. The paper hypothesizes as the initiatives of institutional changes: platform regulation, policy principles regarding the caste image and representation, and long-lasting Dalit creative leadership to make the OTT ecosystems agents of liberation, not exploitation.

Keywords:
Dalit representation; OTT platforms; Ambedkarite critique; Caste and cinema; Anti-caste aesthetic