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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Refereed: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, , VOL 1-ISSUE 5 : JULY 2021

Representation of Dalits in Literature & Films

Athira Krishnan Assistant Professor Nasra College of Arts and Science, Thirurkad

Abstract

This study deals on how Dalits are represented in Malayalam film and literature. Malayalam film industry has several actors who have been marked ‘black’ with their body and its language. The lineage that started with has now reached . Since the birth of Caste system, Dalits are considered as someone who are ‘uncultured’ and are confined to stand in the last rung of the ladder of society which is caste stricken. Malayalam films have taken its theorem from literature. Literature dealt the social problems of Kerala such as caste and poverty with much bias. But the language of the same matter took the counter stand in the case of films. The film that represented Kerala failed to portray the real face of Kerala.

Dalit literature in has emerged as a separate and principle category of literature in many Indian languages. It provides us a new born voice and identity to the community that have experienced discrimination ,marginalization and exploitation due to hierarchical caste system. Several writing of Dalit literature has emerged as a vigorous voice of Dalit community in different literature over the last five decades.

The term Dalit literally means `oppressed’ and is used to refer to the `untouchable’ casteless sects of India. Dalit also called outcaste is a self-designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as untouchables. Dalits are a mixed population of numerous groups all over India, South Asia and all over the world. The very term Dalit was made popular in the 1970s by Dalit Panthers influenced from the ideology of Americas Black Panthers. Several names are proposed to define this group of people like Harijan (children of God) and Ashprosh (untouchables). Etymology of the word Dalit, the word comes from the Sanskrit and it means, `down trodden’, `suppressed,` crushed’ or` broken in to pieces’.

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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Refereed: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 5 : JULY 2021

The term Dalit literature was popular from 1954 and as a result of the Dalit literary conference held in Bombay in 1958 the literature written by Dalits and the Dalit represented literature was accepted as Dalit literature. In recent times `Dalit literature’ has become a new genre. The writings of Dalit literature have started depicting the torments experiences of Dalits exposed to contemporary social, political, educational, economical and mental conditions of Dalits before Dalits and non-Dalit readers. Mulkraj Anand was the first writer to touch upon this genre of Dalit literature. It is a literature of protest against all forms of exploitation based on class, race, caste and occupation. It primarily focuses on the fundamental human rights and values. The Dalit writing found inspiration in the movement of Black, in the distant lands of North America and Africa. Dalit writers reflect the anguish of a community and demand the shaping of a just future for the underprivileged and the outcast in society. Major writers of Dalit literature being Mahaswetha Devi, Rabi Singh,Perumal Murughan, Bama and Namdheo Dhasal .Compared to any other movement in the last century, Dalit literature has been acting as a vehicle for achieving social transformation. Dalit literature wishes to change the world by bringing the humanity to the forefront.

The meaning of Dalit and Dalit literature conveys a message about his/her community but not individuality, about his/her revolt and progress but not regression. The message is conveyed by portraying the exploitative, desperate and embarrassed sections endowed with grief showing how they continue to be suppressed and enslaved. The writers of Dalit literature questioned religion and identity throughout their works. The Dalit literature achieved a strong foundation in the mid 20th century, its framework having seen established in the 19th century. The present day Dalit writers hence made the literary foundation strong with an ideology of their own and also publishing various national and international journals.

Dalit literature deviates from the aesthetic groups of mainstream literature by its own stereotypical way. The rise of Dalit literature marks a new chapter for India’s untouchables. Extreme opportunities and exposure are now received by short story writers, novelists and poets. There are writers who pay much admiration to previously marginalized writers. Ramnika Gupta although not born as a Dalit her work `yudhart Aam Aadhmi’ (1987) a quarterly magazine is a fine example for this. She proves to be a leading figure in the emergence of low-caste writing. B.

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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Refereed: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 5 : JULY 2021

R .Ambedkar the highly influential writer and Dalit leader was of the view that low-caste people had their own literature and that they write about their own living.

Similar in the case of the writer Ajay Narvaria . His work` Udhar Ke Log’ (2008) portrays the way by which how the low-castes are treated and also the agony of the protagonist for being rejected by his lover a sex-worker on his discovery of him as a Dalit. Narvaria was of the view that new generation writers is actually reinforcing caste divisions rather than breaking them down by writing about purely Dalit issue and by organizing themselves as Dalits.

From the very birth of Indian cinema since 100 years there have been only a handful of mainstream Dalit stories and characters. The Indian film historian Theodore Bhaskaran propounded the principle of anti-un touchability especially in the silent films and early talkies .He says about the film` Veeran’ (1956) directed by D.Yoganand and written by kannadasan made with M.G. Ramachandran on the lead. The film was given a twist by portraying the hero as a boy born in a much affluent family who was left to the forest and brought up by Dalit couples instead of showing him as a son of the backward parents. The aim behind this was to please the viewers.

According to a study done by, ` ’ in June 2015, among the 300 movies released between 2013 and 2014, just six of the lead characters belonged to backward caste. Bikas Ranjan Mishra the director of the film Chauranga (2016) says he also has witnessed caste dynamics at close hand in his village. The politics of identity –caste and gender were centered to him and they still are. He held the view that `Things have to be destroyed and demolished for a new world to emerge.

Dalit representation in Malayalam films are seen very unpleasant, from the very beginning it continues by reinforcing Dalit characters as stereotypes .Majority are anti-dalit films and even Dalit filmmakers and writers hesitate to make films which convey Dalit theme. In all sense upper caste hegemony is seen in the Malayalam film industry.

The director John Cheriyan (Papilio Buddha) in his interview with maadhyamam weekly says `my movie was treated untouchable’. He says by excluding the film Papilio Buddha, from this line up, IFFK lost an opportunity to show the life and struggles of the marginalized people of

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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Refereed: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 5 : JULY 2021

Kerala to an international audience. K Cheriyan’s English Malayalam film Papilio Buddha (2013) tells about the displaced Dalits in the Western Ghats who embrace Buddhism and become Ambedkar’s follower’s in order to escape oppression. The film Papilio Buddha is not an isolated one as the documentary film Bhim Comrade (2011) directed by Anand Patwardhan also was excluded tacitly under technical reasons like the length of the film. Anti-Dalit bias is one of the reasons behind these.

The history of Indian Cinema began at the early part of the twentieth century. had to wait a few more decades to get its first film. The first feature film in Malayalam ‘Vigathakumaran’ was released in 1928. Produced and directed by the returned business man J.C.Daniel, who himself handled the role of the protagonist, the film stood apart with a social theme while mythological films ruled the film arena all over India.

Kerala had to wait another five years to get its next film, but only to be shelved after a few exhibitions due to a legal entanglement. ‘Marthandavarma’ based on the famous novel by C.V. Raman Pillai was produced by Sunderraj, a historical , would have had a great impact on the cinema of if it had not met with legal confrontation.

The first Malayalam cinema with a sound track was released in 1938. The film ‘Balan’ produced by R.Sundaram and directed by Notani was a melodrama with more Tamil influence than Malayalam. Following the commercial success of ‘Balan’, more films like ‘Jnambika’ (1940) and ‘Prahlada’ (1941) came out to the theatres. P.J.Cheriyan’s ‘Nirmala’ (1948) was the first film to explore the possibility of music and songs in cinema. The lyrics of the film penned by the legendary Malayalam poet G.Shankara Kurup became so popular that song-dance sequences became essential ingredients of Malayalam cinema. ‘Jeevithanouka’ (1951) a melodramatic musical could be considered as the first ‘super- hit’ film with the first Malayalam ‘super-star’, Thikkurishi . The success formula of ‘Jeevithanouka’ was repeated for many films to come out after that till the path breaking film ‘Neelakuyil’ saw the light. ‘Neelakuyil’ (1954) broke away from the Tamil – influence of Malayalam cinema and had an authentic story penned by renowned writer . Directed by the duo of

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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Refereed: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 5 : JULY 2021

P.Bhaskaran and Ramu Karyat, the film dealt with the story of untouchables prevailed in the society. This also was the first Malayalam film shot outdoors and also the first film to be recognised in the National level. The first full-length colour film of Malayalam came out in 1960, ‘Kandam Bacha Coat’, which otherwise was a film of no much relevance. ‘’ (1965) directed by Ramu Karyat was the first South Indian film to bag the President's Golden Lotus Award for the best film. Based on the famous novel by renowned Malayalam writer Takazhi Shivashanakara Pillai, ‘Chemmeen’ pioneered the growth of Malayalam cinema in technical and artistic aspects. It brought together some of the best technical talents then available in India, Salil Chowdhari (music), Markes Burtly (cinematography) and Hrishikesh Mukhargee (editing). It also had a huge star cast. The early 1970s witnessed a radical change in the perspective towards cinema by filmmakers as well as film viewers of Kerala. The beginning of film society movement resulted in the exposure to world classics, which helped a group of young filmmakers realize the uniqueness of the language of this medium, which till then was in the clutches of the forms used for stage dramas. Influenced by the French and Italian New Wave, as elsewhere in India, the Malayalam New Wave was born.

The arrival of young filmmakers from the newly constituted Film During the late 1960s and during the 1970s when Indian ‘New Wave’ cinema, especially the much-acclaimed Hindi films, fell into the trap of a formula of class-struggle stories, ironically mostly funded by the very oppressor class, Malayalam cinema broke away from such formulas and explored the depths of social and individual relationships. These extraordinary films made during the period could even find its audience among the common man through theatres and film societies. But in the millennium Malayalam cinema seems to be going to the same trap, which ultimately proved to be destructive to the ‘New Wave’ elsewhere in India. The ‘Parallel’ films coming out today often dwells on the most obvious subject, which could be even got from newspapers. The strength of cinema to go much beyond the surface level of an issue is often neglected and dramatizing these obvious ‘issues’ in even more obvious ways have become the rule of the day.

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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Refereed: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 5 : JULY 2021

Most of the Indian films at that time were based on stories from the puranas and the films with social themes were scarce. The first Malayalam feature film Vigathakumaran (1928) directed and written by J.C. Daniel who is considered as the father of Malayalam film industry has faced many challenges. The theme of the film was of social significance and was one of the early films of that genre. The film Vigathakumaran itself was shelved and J.C. Daniel its lower caste Nadar Christian film maker who was thwarted in his move and he too had to leave the film field incurring huge loses and leading him into poverty. However, we must also remember that Rosy the actress in the film met with instant violence from Nair caste lords. On the very first day on which her film was released, men from upper caste Nair community tore the screen and broke up the show unable to bear the sight of a Dalit woman in the role of a Nair woman acting out love scenes with another man.

The films of this age often portrayed the love relationship between poverty stricken women and the men from affluent family. This occurs in the film Jnanmbika (1940) directed by Nottamani in which the heroine Jnanambika is being sold to Jaipuram Jameendaar by her step mother. But her love with Chandran a well-educated boy is fulfilled. The film Nirmala (1948) directed by P.V. Krishnayer portrays the life of a needy yet pretty girl who loots for her sister and was arrested by a police officer who falls in love with her.

Neelakuyil(1954) jointly directed by P. Bhaskaran and was a landmark film in Malayalam cinema history that paved a new path for Malayalam cinema by breaking away from the earlier tradition of adapting plots from Hindi films for making Malayalam films, of which the story or the characters could never be identified with the culture of Kerala. Based on a story by famous Malayalam writer Uroob Neelakuyil, had dialogues with local accent and the script’s hard-hitting dialogues flay social evils such as untouchability, feudalism, and injustice towards women. Here Neeli (), a Dalit peasant girl, falls in love with Sreedharan Nair (Sathyan), a school teacher. Neeli becomes pregnant. Sreedharan Nair refuses to marry Neeli as he fears being ostracized by a conservative society. Neeli becomes an outcaste and dies in child birth. But later he accepts his child. It is through the death of a Dalit woman, the protagonist keeps the respect of Nair.

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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Refereed: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 5 : JULY 2021

The film Thoovana Thumbikal (1987) written and directed by P. based on his novel `Udakappole’. The loss of counterpane by the poverty stricken Dalits amidst the luxurious life of urban people is represented through the character of Ravunni. The rise of the Dalit actor in to the stardom demanded reinstalling in narrative patterns. As a way to highlight the upper caste majority his characters were represented as someone who is physically or mentally challenged in his films Vaasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum(1999) and Karumadikuttan(2001) both directed by . Thus the Malayalam film industry has drawn a line of demarcation in the portrayal of upper and lower caste.

Malayalam commercial cinema has always been dominated by Hindu upper caste and Muslim superstars like , Jayan , and new generation actors like Prithvi Raj, Dulquer Salman and . Masculinity is embedded with an assemble of social practices,symbols,discouses and ideologies associated with the categories of ‘Men’.[1] The cinema is largely around dual trope: while Prem Nazir was Sathyan was ;if Mohanlal is Krishna, Mammooty is Rama[2]. Chubby fair-skinned white bodies of male have successfully reined the industry for centuries from the birth of Malayalam cinema. Sathyans film career was the palpitation journey of a black body to achieve Nazirs juvenile white body [3]. The hegemony of Indian masculinity works hand-in-hand with upper caste thinking. [4]

Ever since the birth of Malayalam cinema the black body was considered as taboo. The representation of blacks as themselves is very rare. The portrayal of blacks was made in a sarcastic view and through the representation of negative roles. In the perspective of Malayalam mainstream films Dalits lacked the figure value which is needed to satisfy the beauty concept of the viewers.

REFERENCE

Purushothaman k. c- Dalit Sahitya Prasthanam, published by Kerala Sahitya Akademi,

Madhyamam – `My movie was treated untouchable’-Muhsin mutteth. 17 December 2017

The Hindu –` New voices but not enough noise’-Joshi Namrata.23 January 2016

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Barrett, Frank j. ‘The Original Construction of Hegemonic Masculinity’ Taos Institute, July 1996 p.130 [1]

Menon,Sadhanand . ‘From Rakshasa to Dalit icon’ Hindusthan Times, 1 Aug 2016.[2]

Madhyamam –` Gangamarude Karuppu Sudhamaakapetta Veluppaanu’-k.kannan 20 march 2017

---- `Njan ivideyokke undaayirunnu’-Vinayakan and Sakheer Hussain [3]

Cheriyan, Jayan K. “Film maker in Focus” Flow, 18 Sept.2017 [4]

Yoganadam-Malayala Navatharanga Cinema- `kalamoolya chinthayude photocopiyaakaanilla’-M. K. Harikumar 16 Februeary2016

Omvedh, Gail. Dalit chinthakal. , Kerala , Books,2010

Warrier,SreejithK ‘Pradeshika Basha Malayala Cinemayil.’ BHashaposhini, Jan 2017

Abraham,Vinu. ‘Celluloidine Orthedukumbol’. Maadhyamam, 23 Nov 2016

Namratha Joshi. ‘New Voices But Not Enough Noise’ The Hindu, 23 Jan 2016

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