Activist Dalit Subbaiah lives on in a stirring documentary about his protest music

My voice isn’t my own, it’s the voice of thousands of Dalits. That’s what Tamil singer, lyricist and poet Dalit Subbaiah declared.

Gridaran MKP’s documentary Dalit Subbaiah is a stirring tribute to the artist who died in 2022, to his unwavering commitment to social causes as well as a reminder of the power of protest music.

Dalit Subbaiah won the top prize at the International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala in August. Gridaran, who works as an editor in the Tamil film industry, retraces Subbaiah’s story through conversations with members of his family and associates. Archival footage of Subbaiah’s performances testify to the vitality of his voice, lyrics and vision for a just and egalitarian society.

Subbaiah’s personality – warm, witty, fearless, understated but magnetic too – is evident from his shows. “He was magnificent in his politics, the way he delivered speeches, the songs he wrote and sang,” Gridaran told Scroll.

The film reveals the range of Subbaiah’s concerns – caste discrimination, dowry, the class divide, sanitation workers, communalism, the Sri Lankan civil war, majoritarianism. A character in the documentary says, “He wrote Tamil Nadu’s history in songs.”

In a revealing scene, school girls walk by Subbaiah and members of his troupe perform at a street corner. Subbaiah had a...

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