Caste as an issue is rarely commented on in Hindi cinema as it is not conventionally entertaining, believes veteran actor Amol Palekar, who is returning to films after a considerable gap of 12 years with ‘200-Halla Ho’, a true story of Dalit women who attacked a rapist in an open court.

The film, directed by Sarthak Dasgupta and co-written by Dasgupta and Gaurav Sharma, touches upon the issues of sexual violence, caste oppression, corruption, and legal loopholes through the eyes of 200 Dalit women.

Palekar, known for 1970s Hindi films like ‘Rajnigandha’ , ‘Chitchor’, ‘Chhoti Si Baat’  and  ‘Gol Maal’, said producers usually shy away from such “disturbing” topics.

The script of this film dealt with caste issues, which have remained invisible in Indian cinema. Such themes are disturbing and not conventionally ‘entertaining’. Producers have shied away from backing such projects all through our cinematic journey, Palekar told PTI in an email interview.

Caste issues have successfully featured in Marathi and Tamil cinema with films such as Nagraj Manjule’s  “Fandri” and  “Sairat” and Pa Ranjith’s “Kaala” and  “Sarpatta Parambarai”,  respectively.

In Hindi mainstream cinema, caste has largely stayed invisible, barring Neeraj Ghaywan’s “Masaan” and  “Geeli Pucchi”, a short in the Netflix anthology film  “Ajeeb Daastaans”.

Palekar said the Hindi film industry still refuses to come out of “Brahminical aesthetics”.

Hindi cinema still prefers to maintain a conspicuous silence about caste issues, the veteran actor said, adding, “Our film industry refuses to come out of the Brahminical aesthetics. Themes of the caste divide used to get introduced through a love story. Though oppression was shown the relief used to appease the majority.”

Plight of women used to be a sub-text. With the advent of OTT (over-the-top) platforms, female-centric themes are being handled; female characters are getting meaningful and getting lead roles. All this is a very heartening change, he added.

Citing the example of films such as Aamir Khan-starrer  ‘Lagaan’, Taapsee Pannu’s  ‘Pink’ and  ‘Thappad’, the 76-year-old actor, who has straddled theatre, films, TV and art, believes cinema as a medium has stupendous power to appeal to the masses.

“We saw how ‘Lagaan’was loved by all, we saw how ‘Pink’ or ‘Thappad’ addressed misogyny. Such films addressed issues, which made all of us face our hypocrisy,” he said.

The actor is hopeful that  ‘200 -Halla Ho’,  which is about the fight of women against oppression, will certainly impress the audience.

‘200 – Halla Ho’ also features ‘Sairat’star Rinku Rajguru, “Asur”actor Barun Sobti, “Jogwa” actor Upendra Limaye, “Abhay” actor Indraneil Sengupta,  “Soni” actor Saloni Batra and Sahil Khattar, a popular YouTuber and host, who plays the rape accused.

The film is said to be based on the aftermath of the killing of the gangster and mass rapist Bharat Kalicharan aka Akku Yadav by 200 Dalit women in 2004.

The film releases on the streaming platform ZEE5 on Friday.