In cinema, using an image that is not part of the story invites the audience’s minds to move and make connections that the film-maker is hinting at. This is an attempt at exploring the potency of an image and to elicit that using an iconic image to layer a story can open it up for multiple nuanced readings. Telugu films over the last three decades have added to the caste discourse very fleetingly and often halfheartedly. In a few exceptional situations, Telugu films have said something caste-conscious and it often tends to be outdated or tokenistic. When an image is placed or used correctly, the power or potency of the image can move people and their passions in ways only cinema is capable of. So juxtaposing Rudraveena (1988) which uses Gandhi’s image powerfully, with Palasa 1987 (2020) and Narappa (2021) that use Ambedkar, brings out a more complex layer to the storytelling.
