The rate at which Aarakshan attracted controversies is only surpassed by the rate at which it was forgotten. This is surprising because it is not only the first mainstream Hindi movie that has explored the contentious issue of affirmative action but also one of the very few movies in which (one of) the hero(es) is a confident educated Dalit. In the midst of the controversies most of us have forgotten the new ground broken by Aarakshan’s Deepak Kumar.