THE 1960S WITNESSED some remarkable changes in the Indian film landscape. Several regional films were being made in local dialects, such as the first Bhojpuri film Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo, directed by Kundan Kumar. The 1963 film was an instant hit and became an inspiration for filmmakers who had been trying to make indigenous cinema. This led to films in dialects such as Marwari, Magadhi, Rajasthani, Nepali and Chhattisgarhi.
It was during this time that Manu Nayak, a young film enthusiast in Chhattisgarh, then Madhya Pradesh, decided to make the first Chhattisgarhi film and base it on a subject close to his heart—caste discrimination. , which translates to “convey the message,” was released while the film industry was dominated by Hindi films. Nayak’s film depicts a love marriage between an inter-caste couple—a boy from a Scheduled
