The cultural context in India-
Cultural
identities
The
core of the Tamil society is the family. The family plays a significant role in
the transmission of traditions. Families in turn join to form clans, castes,
and communities. Cultural traits had been handed over across generations
through the channel of family using dance, music, drama, other performing arts
like street play or koothu, and folk arts, which were mostly oral, as channels
to communicate the cultural traits to the society.
Tamil
Nadu is rooted in centuries-old religious scriptures, customs, and social
norms. Tamil films demonstrate the relationship between God and humans, between
woman and man, and among family members—all of which is rooted in the
identities. Tamil
cinema frequently revolves around these
stories as a solution for a problem, as an anxiety about a social
situation.
Cinema serves
a valuable role since by their cultural tradition the people of Tamil Nadu.
Children are no exception from this cinema culture. They play cards with the
image of the movie star printed on them. They learn to dance, fight, and speak
dialogue like the film stars and entertain themselves and others with the songs
and dances from their favorite cinema. Babies are named after the famous film
titles or with their famous star’s name.
Religious
identity Of all the social institutions in society,
Religion
is the most sensitive and fundamental. It has influenced every individual and
found a very prominent and dominant place in society. Religion and arts are
inseparable, and they influence each other. Religion controls the media and
technology while media play the propaganda agent to religious values in every
type of publication, including cinema, books, videotapes, general magazines and
newspapers, and scholarly journals.
The
father of Indian cinema, Dada Saheb Phalke, used cinema the new technology as a
tool for the commercial viability of
translating myths into cinema.
Mythology
In the
beginning mythological themes dominated Tamil film.
Mythology is not a fairy tale but a process
of humanizing the unknown, to make it known. It is a passage from the known
(human) to the unknown (divine), and myth is used as a stable point of
transition. Myth is used as a symbolic language in order to reach the divine.
So this symbol is the meeting point of the human and the divine as well as a
vehicle for the personification of abstract values in human form.
In
fact, the Tamil cinema industry survives largely by Puranic and social stories. In
Tamil cinema Puranic stories dealing with gods and goddesses, heaven and hell,
and films dealing with historical persons like Veerapandia Kattabomman and
Kappalotia Thamizan are the pictures that have gone beyond time and space .
Gazing
Culture
Cinema
as a fast growing technology has brought some of the emotional qualities so
close to the audience through actors that people have learned them without
questioning. The culture of learning through audiovisual images is an ancient
one among Tamils. They learn more by watching and imitating. This “gazing
culture” has given cinema a prominent place in society till today.
The
Appeal Of The Visual Image
Why do
the producers never bothered to learn the cinematic language?
Cinema becomes a mobile gaze with immense
power to satisfy the gaze culture. It was an accepted code that if the actors appeared dressed
in shirts and pants, those films were known as social. If they appeared in
“divine” costumes, those were known as Puranic stories, and if they appeared in
royal costumes, those were known as historical films. Actually the appeal of
the visual image (costume) was so strong that the audience considered the
nature of story as secondary (p. 70). Since the stories were more familiar to
the audience, the producers did not care much about indigenous cinematic
vocabulary; that crippled the quality and the development of local cinema. The
producers never bothered to learn the cinematic language but instead were
content with the same old stories and methodologies of stage visuals .
Political
Aspect
In pre-independence days, the purpose, priority, and the major content of the Indian cinema was the “national culture". Why?
In pre-independence days, especially during the freedom movement, the purpose, priority, and the major content of the Indian cinema was the “national culture.” It was the time when both bureaucrats and politicians, whether connected with cinema or not, repeatedly referred to the “national culture” . At the initial stage of sound cinema, most films made a special reference to the “national freedom,” reflected in the titles, songs, and other dialogues (Narayanan, 1981, p. 47). Baskaran narrates that particularly in the 1930s and 1940s this spirit of Indian nationalism found expression in cinema with nationalistic songs and direct protest against the British rule, especially with the demonstration of the Non-cooperation movement. Gandhian social reform themes, including the prohibition of alcohol and the uplift of women and Dalits, were also the themes of the day in the cinema.
The
Dravidian Nationalism
Since 1967
five chief ministers, all democratically elected, have governed Tamil Nadu and
all of them are associated in one way or another with the film industry.
Tamil nationalism, formerly known as the
Dravidian Movement, can be traced in its political identities. It included all the four major Southern Indian
languages. This identity of the Dravidian nationalism was made of many
like-minded organizations and movements against Brahmins . According to this view of Tamil national
identity, the Brahmin immigrants from the North had imposed the Sanskrit
language, religion, and heritage on the South. This “selfrespect movement,”
started by veteran social reformist E. V. R. Periyar, demanded the dismantling
of Brahmin hegemony, the abolition of Sanskrit, the revival of a pure Tamil
language, a social reformation through the abolition of the caste system,
religious practices, and recasting women’s position in society. Gaining a
political vigor, the movement focused on Tamil identity and the uplift of the
poor. It even went to the extent of demanding autonomy and independence from India
in order to maintain the integrity of Tamil consciousness, though the idea was
given up later in favour of state autonomy within India .
Expressions
Of Vernacular Identity
The
expressions of vernacular identity are quite explicit in Tamil cinema which
assert Tamil ethnic identity even today. The political party Dravida Munnertra
Kazhagam DMK grip over the audience through its rhetoric on “Tamilness,” which was
constructed in part by notions of maanam (honor) and valor. The concept of
female chastity symbolised by the virtuous and valorous Kannagi, the heroine of
Chialppathikaaram.
C.
N. Annadurai
C.
N. Annadurai’s appearance in the film industry changed the history of Tamil
filmdom. It was the time when Dravidian movement was set with a agenda of the
Dravidian movement very strong in Tamil play. His first film-play Velaikkari
(maid servant) made a mark in society as a film with a strong social theme and
message. He also became the founder of the DMK—the Dravidian political party.
Tamil
culture was fundamental for the Dravidian politics and rationality was its
philosophy. The party fought against the Brahmins and their religious
superstitions. In order to free the Tamils from the clutches of the religious
and caste hegemony of the Brahmins, the DMK was founded. It brought back the
great Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar and his Tamil values to the people through
popular cinema. It was a war against the Aryan ideals. Thus, this political
structure was founded firmly on Tamil cultural values
Kalaignar
M. Karunanidhi
The
next mile stone in the history of the Tamil cinema is Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi.
His famous film Parasakthi(1952) was
written by keeping in mind the demand for a sovereign Dravidanadu or Tamil
homeland. However once the party tasted power and entered into electoral
politics, it began to compromise on all these issues. The brave Tamil
nationalistic slogans were replaced with “one caste and one god” (Rajadurai
& Geetha, 1996, p. 560). It celebrated the greatness of Tamils and Tamil
nation. This was an eye opener to bring the audience to the immediate realities
of despair. This film touched the very core of the social problems and narrated
the religious superstitions. It had its strong impact on the middle class
people for its Tamil sentiments and ideals. Following these success stories the
Tamil cinema industry produced a series of films on social themes, stories on
Tamil ideologies like valor, love, chastity of women, and love for the Tamil
language. The ethos of popular cinema
has had a close relationship with Tamil political culture.
M.
G. Ramachandran (MGR)
The
DMK used cinema as a tool for the propagation of its ideology. Many leaders of
the DMK movement were also involved in Tamil cinema in their own capacity. M.
G. Ramachandran (MGR) is still the most prominent even now, 30
years
after his death. In his movies MGR would
portray himself as an adventurous hero, historically and culturally constituted
as men’s exclusive preserve.
Cultural
narrative in Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema enabled a wider dissemination of
Tamil culture and ideology. The cultural practices are still fused with cinema,
for instance, the energetic use of Tamil language. Tamil cinema helped to
articulate the political and cultural ideology through various signs and
symbols. As cultural narratives Tamil
films reflect the sentiments and aspirations of the Tamil people. The cinema
industry takes special care to construct the social, cultural, and political
values of society. These
socio-cultural and political factors associated with Tamil cinema mirror the
different strands of society and help us to understand its multi-role as
propagator, entertainer, educator, and guardian of ideas, mores, traditions,
and culture.
Tamil popular cinema is politically and
ideologically loaded. It not only reflects social reality but also constructs
it. A brief
history of Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is a powerful medium of cultural
expression and it functions as a social, cultural, political, and economic
institution It has a tremendous impact
on the lives of people by shaking and shaping the foundations of the society.
The expression icon was evolved in the West
mainly in a Christian context. “Icon” or ikon means a holy painting, usually
on wood, of Jesus Christ, or of a person considered holy by some Christians,
especially in eastern countries.
An
icon is what is constructed and also what is utilized. It not only delights,
but serves a purpose. 
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