Scene from Suriya-starrer Jai Bhim featured on Oscars’ official YouTube channel; First Tamil film to earn this honour

The official YouTube channel of the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shared a scene from actor Suriya’s latest film Jai Bhim on YouTube on Tuesday as part of their ‘Scene at the Academy’.

What is the Oscars’ Scene at the Academy?

The Scene at the Academy is a platform that shines the spotlight on the filmmaking and creative process behind various movies for the enlightenment of the Academy’s global members and fans.

The Oscars website says that Scene at the Academy focuses on filmmakers and artists, who will speak about the evolution and breakdown of a scene or an element (i.e. song) in a film that captures and represents the approach to the movie.

For example, writers discuss how the scene(s) originated, while directors will talk about the considerations throughout. Meanwhile, the composers/songwriters of tracks in the movie will discuss storytelling through songs, and visual effects supervisors explain how moments came to life.

Also read: ‘Jai Bhim will make you question your silence,’ syas filmmaker TJ Gnanavel

Watch the featured scene from Jai Bhim here:

Also read: I hope that Jai Bhim will bring me strong characters: Actress Lijomol Jose

The scene from Jai Bhim featured by the Oscars is the opening sequence, which shows a group of people being released from a local jail, with their families waiting outside to see them. As they walk out the gates, they are stopped by a prison officer who inquires each prisoner about his caste. The ones from “lower castes” are asked to stay back and wait in a corner, while those from “higher castes” are allowed to leave. However, the ones asked to stay behind are then handed over to the local police to be booked in other pending cases — all executed by bribing the prison officer.

The video then goes on to show a BTS interview with TJ Gnanavel, director of Jai Bhim. Gnanavel explains in the video, “Jai Bhim is about how easily a powerful system can brand the oppressed as habitual offenders on the basis of caste. This film is not just about custodial violence faced by tribal people. (It’s about) how caste discrimination forms the basis of custodial discrimination (sic).”

Jai Bhim, which had premiered on Amazon Prime Video last year, received critical acclaim for its portrayal of the discrimination and custodial violence faced by a tribal community at the hands of the police. The film also stars Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh, Rajisha Vijayan and Lijomol Jose among others.

Also read: Jyotika and I are game for a film, if the script is right, says actor Suriya