Award winning filmmaker Sudha Kongara issued an apology on Saturday, July 27, for a gaffe confusing Jyotirao Phule with VD Savarkar, leading to several fact-checking her statement and seeking a response.
In a recent interview to YouTube channel Cineulagam, Sudha Kongara claimed that Savarkar worked for empowering women to pursue education. She said that the Hindu nationalist ideologue encouraged his wife to study, while everyone around insulted her for going to school. However, this is a famous episode from the lives of Jyotirao Phule and his wife Savitribhai Phule, who were pioneering educators and reformers who taught Dalit, Tribal and OBC women.
Jyotirao Phule was a popular anti-caste icon who fought against caste-based discrimination and started schools for Mahars and Mangs (Dalits), who were deprived of education because of their caste status, while VD Savarkar was the ideologue of right-wing Hindu nationalism.
In a statement issued on Saturday, July 27, she apologised for her “ignorance” and said that she would not give interviews anymore without checking her facts. “I apologise. For my ignorance. At seventeen, when I was just led into the world of women’s studies and I heard this anecdote from my teacher, I didn’t fact check. I should have. As a student of History and rigorous research I should have delved deeper. Thus, my interview was born out of sheer ignorance and no mal-intent ever, to apportion credit for one’s achievements elsewhere . I promise to not give interviews anymore without checking my facts. I thank everyone who corrected me. Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule - forever respect. #VivalaRevolucion! (sic),” she said.
Sudha Kongara has been giving a series of interviews to different media outlets, as part of promotion for her latest release Sarfira, starring Akshay Kumar. Sarfira is the Hindi remake of Suhda Kongara's 2020 Tamil film, actor Suriya starrer Soorarai Pottru. Both films are based on GR Gopinath's memoir 'Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey', depicting the journey of a man who set out to make affordable airlines for people with low income.
In her interview to Cineulagam on July 23, she was replying to a question about her much awaited film Purananooru, in which she has joined hands with actor Suriya yet again after the blockbuster Soorarai Potru. However, the film has not yet hit the floor after the initial announcement in 2023, in which it was revealed that the film will also cast Dulquer Salmaan, Nazriya Nazim, and Vijay Varma in the lead roles.
Speaking about the delay in the film work, she said that the subject was so close to her heart and that it was an “anti-oppression film”. “That’s what I like about it. It talks to me. That is my ideology. That's my ideology. That’s what I say in my films. That’s my politics. I believe in that…..”
She further continued stating that she was a student of history and women’s studies and recalled an anecdote told by one of her teachers in women’s studies. “Savarkar was a pioneer leader back then and an admired person. He got married and forced his wife to study, but his wife wanted to stay at home and be a housewife. Because ladies did not get educated back then. So, when she went to school or college or whatever, everybody in the street insulted her and she used to cry and refuse to go to school. So, he would take her to school. My questioning started from there - is it right or wrong?”, she says and recalls several instances of her questioning her grandparents as a child, when it came to stories and epic.
What she narrates in this video is a famous episode from the lives of social reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule. As was prevalent during those days, Savitribai was married to Jyotirao at an early age of 9. Savitribai wanted to get educated against the prevalent belief that only those from ‘upper’ castes and men should get educated, and Jyotirao Phule had the vision to educate his wife and other women. Savitribai’ first teacher was Jyotiba Phule, often called the father of social reform in India, who also faced a lot of opposition while getting an education. Despite several insults and problems from the ‘upper’ caste society, Savitribai subsequently qualified the teachers training examination in 1848 and formally joined the schools started by Jyotirao. She is also one of the first Indian women who taught Dalit, Tribal and OBC women, and the first Indian headmistress of a girls' school which she set up with Jyotirao.
