Negotiating Cultural Dominance within Indian Regional Cinema: Reconfiguration of the Narrative Strategies Used as an Alternative Device to Resistance

Abstract

Margins in Indian cinema increasingly function as narrative epicenters where alternative cultural expressions challenge the dominance of Bollywood. Rather than remaining peripheral, regional cinemas actively generate cinematic signifiers that reshape the cultural vocabulary of Indian film discourse. This study examines how regional film practices, grounded in local histories, identities, and socio-political realities, reposition themselves by de-canonizing dominant narrative structures within Indian cinema. The paper critically investigates how regional cinemas resist marginalization, articulate alternative voices, and intervene in the politics of canon formation. The research explores how regional films negotiate their position within a Bollywood-centric cinematic hierarchy, and analyzes narrative strategies that enable audiences to engage with and subvert mainstream ideological norms. It further examines the impact of caste, gender, class, displacement, and regional histories on modes of representation and storytelling. Adopting a comparative framework, the study attends to both local specificities and shared strategies of resistance across different Indian regions. The analysis is based on select case studies RRR (South), Ardaas Karaan (North), Rajkahini (East), Sairat (West), and Yarwng (Northeast) chosen to illustrate commonalities and variations in narrative resistance. Each film embodies distinct thematic and formal strategies that contest dominant cinematic paradigms while contributing to a broader pan-Indian perspective. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative approach incorporating critical discourse analysis, cultural studies, narrative analysis, visual and content analysis, and comparative methods. The paper ultimately argues that regional cinemas are not static margins but dynamic cultural sites that actively reconfigure India’s cinematic landscape through representational politics and narrative experimentation.