Castigating the Hindu Myth or Constructing the Dalit Myth?: Understanding the Re-telling of the Myth of Dashavatar in Teesri Aazadi

Abstract

Jabbar Patel’s highly contentious film Teesri Aazadi (2006) creates turmoil in the politics of Uttar Pradesh when the film’s footage was shown by a news channel. The CD of the film is allegedly made and circulated by some radical Dalit organization. The film gets into controversy due to its anti-Hindu content. Contrary to the popular imagination of the Hindu god Rama as an ideal king, the film portrays Lord Ram as anti-Shudra. The film debunks the stories around the Dashavatar myth of the puranas (mythologies), and claims that these mythical stories are part of the conspiracy of the Aryans or Brahmins. These myths are constructed in order to portray the original inhabitants, namely, the Dalits and the tribal communities, as ‘demons’ and subjugate them to ensure their social supremacy in the land called ‘Bharatbhumi’ or India. The film’s content is based on the template of the Aryan Invasion theory as espoused by the anti-caste social reformers like Jyotirao Phule (1827-1890). This paper attempts to examine the Dashavatar myth as portrayed in the film, and shows how the film contributes to the narrative formation of Dalit mythography.