India has never been a casteless society. No matter how hard we pretend to have to move past it, this elephant in the room always confronts us. From supposedly progressive stand up comedians to Bollywood movies, pretty much uses caste as a punchline to get some vague point across.
Case in point, Ranveer Singh’s 83, a film about the Indian Men’s Cricket Team’s 1983 World Cup win, where K Srikanth’s character uses a reservation system or as it is availed by NRIs in the USA and many other countries across Europe, affirmative action.
‘We aren’t in the semifinal due to quota.’
— Suraj Kumar Bauddh (@SurajKrBauddh) December 29, 2021
This is the dialogue of @83thefilm. Passing derogatory comments on quota is very cheap satire of casteist selebs.
The whole team must be ashamed of themselves. Is this your MERIT? Just lol! @RanveerOfficial @deepikapadukone pic.twitter.com/hEapjaRtVW
People have since been calling it out, asking questions to the stars of the film Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.
Without reservation the players with ‘merit’ took 27 years to win the world cup after 1983! In the country of 1.3 billion people they couldn’t find people with merit! Such is the sad state and corruption in the name of merit!
— Equality For All (@Equalit73659657) December 29, 2021
Ye sharmnak hai… Or kab tak hum caste discrimination ko normalise karte rahenge dialogues ke through. @RanveerOfficial https://t.co/MmxgkdG5zb
— Nishant Dongre (@NishantDongre2) December 30, 2021
भाई तुम लोग कोटा से ही आये हो… सवर्ण कोटा.. https://t.co/2SpiwSxb4d
— Manish Chaware (@man23ish) December 30, 2021
How casteist mentality you have #Bollywood ….bullshit Bollywood…south Indian cinema is much much much higher than you https://t.co/OEd3xWAMlo
— navneet bhange (@neet710) December 30, 2021
Unreal hate for anti caste reservations. These guys are so obsessed with it that they'll force it into any and every story they got. Meritorious writers. https://t.co/k49ZxWnYVQ
— Sameep Pergola (@fake_patrao) December 30, 2021
If there was America or any other democracy with a judicial system it would be pulled off air. But the rent free occupation of affirmative action, an equalising policy measure is too precious https://t.co/5VtxA5obI5
— Aced most productive list despite slow company (@angirahedgehog) December 29, 2021
At this point, it’s just safe not to expect Bollywood writers and directors to have any sort of average human intellect to understand their privilege and empathise with the victims of a 4000-year-old system of human subjugation that is somehow still thriving in this country.