Film & Media alum Jayan Cherian recently made a film, Papilio Buddha (2012), that produced a big debate. The film is set in South India and narrates about human right struggle of the Dalit tribal people.
Papilio Buddha (2012) by Jayan K. Cherian
Papilio Buddha is a film that chronicles the fight for land, constitutional
and human rights of the Dalits and tribes of Kerala. Situated in the imaginary land of Meppara, the movie brings in a host of issues in its narrative merging politics, life, body and aesthetics. Kerala’s Dalits and Adivasis are the social groups that have been exploited systemically by the dominant communities, causing historical, political, cultural and spiritual aspects of the Dalit life to be removed of all discourses. Dalit conditions are very similar to that of African Americans in America or Aboriginals of Australia. Both the mainstream and the parallel cinema of Kerala have been blind to the imposed deprivation on these communities and Papilio Buddha is the first ever attempt to address these issues in a historically just, aesthetically nuanced and politically sensitive manner.
About film’s director
Jayan K. Cherian is an Indian poet and New York based filmmaker. He graduated with honors from Hunter College with a Bachelor degree in Film and Creative Writing and from The City College of New York with a Master’s degree in Writing Directing Film and Cinematography.
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Articles on Papilio Buddha ban and censorship battle:
Ban on ‘Papilio Buddha’ is fascism’
Papilio Buddha to hit cinemas in February
Papilio Buddha gets censor certification