VCD Crossovers : Cultural Practice, Ideas of Belonging, and Santali Popular Movies (SPECIAL ISSUE : The Bison and the Horn : Indigeneity, Performance, and the State of India)

This article considers the role Santali movies play regarding the Santal indigenous group’s perceptions of their community as unified throughout India. Using participant observation I describe the differing ways people engage with these movies, which are prevalent in the Kolkata metropolis and in two villages in Assam and Odisha. I argue that the way people articulate their identity in the respective settings evolves from the specific everyday culture there, showing that this mediatized identity-building relates to the identity practice of a wider society and the political situation for Santal people. In a recent academic debate on indigeneity in South Asia, scholars discussed from a critical viewpoint the effects of calling communities “indigenous”; they see this as presupposing the conformity of their cultural identity. Based on my observations, I suggest focusing on the diversity of individuals’ understandings of their belonging as an assertive device.