Ganesh Ashok Pandit
When Chhaava hit screens in 2025, it ignited riots in Maharashtra, leaving a trail of communal hate. Yet, the Censor Board (CBFC) allowed it without hesitation. At the same time, Phule, a film that celebrated the life and struggles of Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule against caste discrimination, was cut to pieces. The CBFC forced 12 cuts, removing words like ‘Mahar,’ ‘Manu dharma,’ and even the harsh truth about untouchability.
In Gulamgiri, Phule had exposed the lies of Brahminical dominance. But in 2025, the CBFC helped to hide them again. While movies like The Kerala Story openly spread hate against Muslims without any trouble, Phule, a film that spoke of equality, was silenced. It even weakened the strong link between Phule and Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy.
This is not about rules. This is about caste. This is about protecting power and silencing truth. As Phule’s broom is banned and Chhaava’s sword is celebrated, we must ask: Whose history can be told?
Phule’s Gulamgiri: A Blueprint for Revolution
In Gulamgiri, Phule didn’t just criticize caste — he tore down the false religious stories that kept it alive.
He showed that Vishnu’s avatars were not gods but Aryan warriors. He saw kings like Bali and Hiranyakashyap called “demons” in Brahminical stories, but in fact, they were brave indigenous leaders who fought against Aryan invaders. Phule exposed how Brahmins created fake scriptures like the Manusmriti to enslave Shudras and Ati Shudras. Through his Satyashodhak Samaj and schools for girls and “untouchables,” Phule planted the first seeds of freedom. Years later, Dr. Ambedkar would nurture these seeds.
Ambedkar’s book, Who Were the Shudras? and The Untouchables carried forward Phule’s fight to rewrite history. His call to “Educate, Agitate, Organize” came straight from Phule’s dream of empowering the oppressed. His Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha also followed Phule’s model of organizing the marginalized. The film Phule promised to show this powerful journey on screen, but the Censor Board’s cuts made sure that the story was silenced.
The CBFC’s Surgical Strike
On April 7, 2025, the CBFC, under pressure from groups like the Akhil Bhartiya Brahman Mahasangh, demanded 12 major changes before giving Phule a ‘U’ certificate.
Firstly, erasing Caste terms like “Mahar,” “Mang,” “Peshwai”, and “Manu dharma” was banned. This severed the film’s connection to Phule’s bold attack on Brahminical text and regime in Gulamgiri. Secondly, the film originally showed the practice of tying a broom to the waist of ‘untouchables’, to wipe away their footprints – a brutal reality of caste discrimination. The CBFC, however, replaced this with a scene where boys throw cow dung at Savitribai. By cutting such scenes, the CBFC buried the harsh truths Phule had fought to bring into the light. Thirdly, muted dialogues like “Jahan shudro ko jhadu bandhkar chalna chahiye” were changed to a weak call for harmony. The powerful phrase “3,000 saal purani gulami” was reduced to “kai saal purani,” removing Phule’s comparison of caste oppression to global slavery. Lastly, the film’s voiceover, which likely explained Phule’s theory of caste and his challenge to myths, was completely removed. Without it, the film lost its intellectual depth and revolutionary power.
These cuts, claimed to be “educational” changes, don’t just edit a film; they erase Phule’s revolutionary essence, reducing his anti-caste war into a harmless reform story.
Erasing Phule, Silencing Ambedkar
The CBFC’s cuts strip away Phule’s portrayal of Jyotirao’s true history. Without key terms like “Manu dharma” and the raw visuals of untouchability, the film loses its critique of Brahminical myths as tools of control. Phule’s racial theory, portraying Brahmins as invaders and Shudras as natives, is erased, reducing the film to a generic reform story. This also disconnects the film from Ambedkar, who used Phule’s ideas to rewrite history and burn the Manusmriti. The cut scenes of the Satyashodhak Samaj fail to show its influence on Ambedkar’s organizations, and the softened dialogues water down Phule’s educational vision, which inspired Ambedkar’s call to “Educate.”
A Casteist Censorship Regime
The Phule controversy reveals a censorship system that supports caste privilege. In reacting to a two-minute trailer, Brahmin groups show their fear of truth, something Phule mocked in Gulamgiri. The CBFC’s approval of hate films, while censoring Phule, highlights this bias. This isn’t just about one film. It’s about a country avoiding its caste sins. Phule’s Gulamgiri challenged the Manusmriti; Ambedkar’s Constitution tried to bury it. But in 2025, the CBFC brings it back, silencing Bahujan voices while amplifying communal ones. The irony is clear: a film about truth is silenced by those claiming to protect society.
“Phule” could have been a powerful reminder of Jyotirao and Savitribai’s fight against caste, inspiring Ambedkar’s work. Instead, the CBFC’s 12 cuts have watered down the film, erasing Phule’s radical message. The CBFC’s double standards, allowing Chhaava’s hate-filled narrative while censoring Phule’s truth, reveal a casteist bias in India’s cultural gatekeeping. The answer lies in the privilege exposed by Gulamgiri, which the CBFC seeks to protect. We must demand uncensored truths—films that burn like Gulamgiri, not fade under censorship.
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Ganesh Ashok Pandit is an LL.B. student at the University of Delhi.
