Tamil 80s movies
As a result, in the second phase after 1950, Tamil films started speaking of more vocally of social equality. The movement was notable for its use of plays, and then films, to propagate its ideology, noted Srirangam-based old-film enthusiast Natarajan. It also coincided with the growth of the Dravidian movement. This shift required filmmakers to cater to all communities. "The cinema hall was the first performance centre in which all the Tamils sat under the same roof," writes Sri Lankan Tamil historian K Sivathamby.Īccording to late historian MSS Pandian, in his book 'The Image Trap', this was in contrast to how seating of the audience during other cultural performances in rural Tamil Nadu was based on one’s caste position. Towards the end of this period, cinema theatres started opening in rural areas as well. Stunned, the king points out to which community she belongs and she responds with a flurry of rationalist questions. When a king approaches the a woman from the community, played by TR Rajakumari, she boldly asks him to marry her. An example is Krishnabhakti, which was released in 1949, two years after the passage of the Madras Devadasis Act. Several films in this period also centered around women of the Devadasi community. The film also features a song praising trains for treating members of all caste groups as equal by allowing all people to sit together.
In Nallathambi (1949), for instance, Kalaivanar NS Krishnan performs Kinthanar Kathakalatchepam about a Dalit boy who pursues his higher education in a city and then returns to his village, a narrative bearing similarities to Dr BR Ambedkar’s life story. Still, some of these films subtly addressed caste practices.
Films such as Sevasadanam (1938), Uthamaputhiran (1940), Sabapathy (1941) and Vazhkkai (1949) belong to these period. The upper caste location of the protagonists could be identified from their surnames. In the first phase of Tamil cinema - pre-1950s - most films centred narratives of persons from upper caste communities.