Phule traces the journey of Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, pioneers who fought caste oppression and championed education and equality. When Jyotiba takes the plunge to educate his wife, he is strongly opposed by higher class in the society as the lower ones are bound to do only slavery.

The movie is a poignant tale of love, loss and invisible barriers. It is about how Vicky Kaushal (Deepak Kumar) a young engineering student from a Dom family, the caste traditionally assigned to work at the cremation ghats of Varanasi. Despite his modest background, Deepak dreams of a better life and falls in love with Shaalu (Shweta Tripathi), a girl from an upper-caste family. However, tragedy strikes when Shaalu loses her life and her mortal remains are cleared by him. 

Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat, starring Akash Thasar and Rinku Rajguru is a landmark Marathi film that sparked nationwide debate about caste system. Its about how Parshya (son of a fisherman) and Aarchi (an upper-caste girl) are lovers but they are caught in web of caste politics. 

The Shashank Khaitan directorial is a remake of 2016 film Sairat and marked debut of Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor. The film showed how Madhukar (a Dalit boy) is eventually killed as he slopes with Parthavi (upper class girl). The tragic climax of the movie continues to shock everyone to date. 

Nikkhil Advani directorial stars Sharwari Wagh as Vedaa Bairwa, a Dalit student of law who wants to punch above her social weight by joining a boxing club in her college. However, the so-called custodians of social order find her fit only to mop the floor for aspirants who belong to the upper stairs in the caste hierarchy. She finds support from Abhimanyu, an ex-Army officer who trains her in boxing so that she seeks revenge.

The Prakash Jha directorial starred Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Prateik Babbar and Deepika Padukone. It is a socio-political drama that delves into the contentious issue of caste-based reservations in India’s education system.

Starring Ayushmann Khurrana, the film refers to Article 15 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. When Ayan Ranjan discovers investigates the disappearance of three Dalit girls in rural Uttar Pradesh, he finds out how they were brutally treated as they were from lower caste.

The Nawazudding Siddiqui starrer left us gasping for breath with it’s intense narrative. The film is based on a real-life incident when Dashrath Manjhi lived on other side of the mountains just because he was from a Dalit community. When his wife(Radhika Apte) falls ill, he is unable to seek medical assistance due to which she loses her life. He is then determined to break the barrier and embarks on a mission to break down entire mountain alone. 

The Shekhar Kapur-directed film came out in 1994 and became so poignant and popular, that it was selected for India’s official entry to the Oscars for that year. The film is the biopic of Phoolan Devi and shows how being from a lower caste, she was oppressed by the upper caste people to such an extent that she had to pick up the gun and end up becoming one of the most dreaded dacoits. The film brutally portrays the injustices she faced.

The film starring Hrithik Roshan is inspired by real-life story of mathematician Anand Kumar, who coached underprivileged students to crack the IIT entrance exams. It sheds light on how students from economically and socially backward sections who are denied opportunities and mocked. 

The Shyam Bengal film starring Shabana Azmi sheds light on how Lakshmi, a Dalit potter’s wife, and her husband Kishtayya life turns upseide down after the landlord’s educated son, exploits their privilege.

Fandry, directed by Nagraj Manjule, follows the story of 13-year-old Jabya who is the only Dalit boy in the village, and so he lives in the outskirt and is offered jobs that are deemed unclean by the society. He falls in love with Shalu, an upper-class girl. However, he never confesses the feelings as society will rebel against it.