ESSAY: Fandry And The Question of Social Inclusion

By Y.M.Deosthalee

The UPA Government has been aggressively propagating financial inclusion. They introduced schemes such as NREGA, compelled banks to open branches in remote areas, enforced priority sector norms for credit to underprivileged etc. But has this changed the country's social fabric? Have we forgotten caste, religion, and language-based differentiation? Has the dowry system been abolished? Have we won the war against superstition? Have we brought about real transformation in society?

Writer-director Nagraj Manjule has experienced caste-based exploitation firsthand. Fandry is a cry born of his suffering. These are the memoirs of a sensitive, intelligent young man. It’s not a story of adolescent love, nor is it a satire on the haves and have nots. Yes, there are a few funny incidents in the film, but they are hardly worth laughing at because the jokes are always against the backdrop of the shattered dreams of the downtrodden.

Everyone has a right to dream. And everyone aspires for, desires a better life. Fandry is the story of Jabya's dreams, his impossible, one-sided attraction towards an upper caste girl from his class—the right to education has put them both in the same classroom, but it has done nothing to erase deep-rooted social prejudices. His fascination for the unseen black sparrow is like a mirage that he hopes will give his dreams succour. But for starters he wants a pair of jeans and a sharper nose. Even these ordinary wishes are beyond the realm of his station.

Jabya’s age does not allow him the maturity to understand the futility of his dreams. At the end of the day, no matter how bright he is, his caste doesn’t command respect, and in fact, puts him and his family in the league of filthy animals, so that they’re compelled to do the work that’s considered below human dignity. And to live at the mercy of their social superiors—so that they may not so much as dance in a procession because they must carry lanterns on their heads for others. To beg and borrow and be humiliated constantly, that’s their lot and it’s written deep in the lines on his father’s sad face.  

The symbolism of the final kill and carrying of the pig’s carcass in front of portraits of the very social reformers who fought against untouchability such as Savitribai Phule and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, is just one of Manjule’s angry flourishes. As is the token respect to the national anthem—a slap on the face of a state that doesn’t value these people but extracts unquestioning loyalty from them anyway.

Fandry is an portrait of the writer's experiences, which have remained buried deep in memory, and left wounds and scars which still bleed. This is the India we live in. And we the citizens accept it. That stone flying out of Jabya’s hand in the film’s closing shot is coming straight at our faces.

Manjule tells his poignant tale with elegance, capturing the beauty of the rugged countryside in Maharashtra, the simple dialect of the community (which the younger generation is trying to shake off), the picture of absolute poverty. It’s all so real, it breaks your heart. Most of the actors are non-professional (including the director himself), with the notable exception of Kishore Kadam who blends seamlessly with the rest of the cast.

Fandry is a contemporary film on a subject that should have become history by now. Unfortunately though there are people in shining India who are still treated like pigs and there seems no end in sight to their suffering. Manjule makes a fervent appeal to the humanity we seem to have left behind somewhere. Perhaps that stone was trying to awaken our conscience and let’s hope it wasn’t in vain…

Comments

[vaibhav]

awesome film!!! I love this.