Tamil cinema and Dravidian politics
Encyclopedia
Tamil cinema
has played a vital role in Dravidian politics in the South India
n state of Tamil Nadu
. Films have been influential in Indian politics since the days of the British Raj
, when movies were used for anti-British propaganda. Nevertheless, the leaders of the Indian National Congress
viewed movie media with contempt. It was the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK), a Dravidian party, that made extensive use of this media for propaganda purposes. Adversaries of Dravidian parties despised the use of films and screen popularity for political gain, and Congress leaders like K. Kamaraj
questioned the possibility of movie stars forming governments.
C. N. Annadurai
, the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from a Dravidian party, was the forerunner in introducing Dravidian ideologies into movie scripts. Of the movies made by Dravidian politicians Parasakthi (1952) was a turning point, as it was a huge box office hit and made radical comments against the social hierarchy set by the caste system and glorified the Dravidian movement. M. Karunanidhi
,former Chief Minister, scripted the screen play for Parasakthi, in which Sivaji Ganesan
and S. S. Rajendran, two founding members of the DMK, made their screen debuts.
Movies produced by the DMK Party received severe censorship
from the then ruling Congress government. According to Murasoli Maran
, a former Union Minister from DMK, the censors would remove parts of the movies, so that the coherence of the screen play was lost, making the movies a box office failure. The script writers used equivocating phrases and words to evade the censorship.
Five out of seven chief ministers from Dravidian parties were actively involved in Tamil cinema either as writers or as actors. M. G. Ramachandran
was the most successful. He launched his own Dravidian party after personal differences with the leaders of DMK, and rose to power as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu mostly with the help of his movie fans and low level cadres. The legacy of politics in Tamil filmdom still continues, though less prominently than in the 1950s to 1970s.
(popularly known as Periyar). The movement aimed to achieve a society where backward castes have equal human rights
, and encouraging them to have self-respect in the context of a caste
-based society that considered them to be at the lower end of the social hierarchy. In Tamil Nadu an array of regional parties, termed Dravidian parties, owe their origin either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) and its political rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) have been the major Dravidian parties.
One of the major platforms of the Dravidian movement was to achieve political change by means of awareness within the society in everyday life. Thus Dravidian politicians viewed film media as an apt vehicle to promote such a revolution.
, is known as a melodrama
tic entertainment form plotted around twists of fate set in exaggerated locales, and filled with songs and dances.
Although a few stars from other southern states
have tried to use film popularity as a stepping stone in politics, such as N. T. Rama Rao
(Andhra Pradesh
), Rajkumar
(Karnataka
) and Prem Nazir
(Kerala
), it was in Tamil Nadu that it was most prominent, with five of the seven Chief Ministers from Dravidian parties hailing from the Tamil film industry. In a state such as Tamil Nadu, where no single caste is predominant, film stars were considered people with wide acceptability to lead. According to Emeritus Professor K. Sivathamby, the movie halls themselves acted as a symbol of social equality. He states
in the 1930s many stage actors joined the Tamil cinema, and brought the ideologies of Gandhian philosophies with them.
Although the Congress party made use of movie stars such as K. B. Sundarambal
to appear at political meetings, some congressmen of that era looked upon movie media with contempt. Tamil Congress leaders like C. Rajagopalachari
considered movie media to be a source of moral corruption. K. Kamaraj
, then president of the All India Congress, mocked DMK's desire to get into power in this statement:
to rural areas in the 1950s Dravidian politicians could implement movies as a major political organ.
In post colonial India, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was the first — at the time the only — party to take advantage of visual movie media. Actors and writers of guerrilla theater, who were inspired by the ideologies of Periyar, brought the philosophies of Tamil nationalism
and anti-Brahminism to celluloid media. The movies not only made direct references to the independent Dravida Nadu that its leaders preached for but also at many times displayed party symbols within the movie. Murasoli Maran
, former central minister from DMK, considered that the DMK movies reflected the faces of both the past (demonstrating the rich language and culture of Tamils) and the future (with social justice). The DMK films espoused Dravidian ideologies through use of lengthy dialogues in its initial movies. Nevertheless, as the party's political aspirations grew, the movies based on Dravidian social reformation themes were replaced with stories that would enhance star popularity.
since the party was little known to the censors, but as the party gained popularity in mid 1950s censorship became stronger. According to Murasoli Maran
one of the techniques followed by the censors was to make sure that the coherence of the movie was lost so that it was a box office failure. At one point DMK, having had been a target of high censorship, had to move back to stage dramas. But the Dramatic Licensing Act brought censorship to stage plays as well, and two of Karunanidhi's plays were banned.
To evade censorship DMK scriptwriters chose to use pun
s and equivocal phrases. The most commonly used pun was Anna which is the word for older brother in Tamil and also was the popular name for DMK chief C. N. Annadurai
. When Anna was praised on screen the audience would break into applause.
(Periyar's nephew and one of the founders of DMK) and actor K. R. Ramaswamy, staged several plays promoting Dravidian ideologies. The DMK party's head office was purchased using the money raised through these plays. Annadurai scripted six screen plays in total.
His first movie was Nallathambi
(Good Brother, 1948), which starred N. S. Krishnan
. It promoted cooperative farming and the abolition of the zamindari system of taxation. His movies such as Velaikaari
(Servant Maid, 1949) and Or Iravu
carried the hallmarks of propaganda for Dravidian politics. On Velaikari, Annadurai said that the movie
Velaikari made direct criticisms of suppressive landlords who were traditionally allied with Jawaharlal Nehru
and Gandhi. When DMK won the elections in 1967, Annadurai served as its first Chief Minister until his death in 1969.
Like that of his political mentor Annadurai, Karunanidhi's movies carried elements of Dravidian political ideologies such as anti-Brahminism and anti Congress Party messages. Two of the movies that contained such messages were Panam
and Thangarathnam. The overall themes of the movies were remarriage of widows, untouchability
, self-respect marriages, abolition of zamindari and abolition of religious hypocrisy.
Until 1949-50 Tamil film dialogues were in a Brahminical slang of the Tamil language. Annadurai and Karunanidhi introduced Tamil close to formal language and void of Sanskrit
influence. According to Professor Robert Hardgrave Jr, the popularity of their movie dialogues made both Annadurai and Karunanidhi "stars in their own right." After the death of Annadurai, Karunanidhi assumed the office of the Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu, and with intermediate periods of in and out of power, he currently serves his 5th term as the chief.
, along with personal problems ended the career of Ramaswamy. Nevertheless, he was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council (upper house of the State) by Annadurai in recognition of his service to the party.
.
Sivaji Ganesan made his movie debut in 1952 with Parasakthi, which opens with a song that glorifies Dravidian culture. Sivaji was a Tamil
, whereas at the time he entered the film industry most other major actors were Telugus. He later became one of the founding members of DMK. Although it was DMK movies that brought Sivaji to the limelight he found that the responsibilities that the party threw at him limited his acting career. His association with DK and with DMK gave him an atheistic reputation that acted as a barrier between him and the religious segment of the audience. Realising that DMK was no longer an asset to his career, he attacked it as a glamour party and broke party protocol by his pilgrimage to Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
. With the growing popularity of MGR in the party, Sivaji left DMK and aligned with the Tamil Nationalist Party of E. V. K. Sampath
. When the Tamil Nationalist Party was dissolved he joined the Congress Party. Although Congress itself lost in the elections in the 1967, Sivaji's fans kept the party alive. In spite of being an active member of the Congress party, he made sure his movies were free of political references. After differences with party leaders he launched his own party, Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani
, in 1989 but with little success, even losing his security deposit in the 1991 assembly election
.
(Vagabond King, 1958), Enga Vitu Pillai (Son of our House, 1965), Nam Nadu (Our Nation, 1969), Adimai Penn (Slave Girl, 1969) and Engal Thangam (Our Gold or Our Precious, 1970) displayed a stereotypical image of a philanthropic, mundane hero made out of a vagrant who becomes a king.
Unlike other DMK actors, MGR used his screen popularity in social works as well, which included financing the poor, running orphanages and participating in disaster relief. MGR's movies portrayed him as a friend of the poor and downtrodden. MGR himself commented
MGR always acted as a hero and made sure that he was always portrayed in a good light on screen. With the departure of Sivaji Ganesan from DMK, MGR's position within the party grew stronger. In contrast to Parasakthi, MGR's movies made less reference to social justice but dwelled more on contemporary political scenarios. The movies typically included references to Dravida and MGR would be clad in red and black (the DMK flag colours). In sharp contrast with earlier DMK movies where the overall theme was used for propaganda, in MGR's movies the protagonist
was shown as a representative of the party ideology, who would fight against evil and support the poor. Thus he played roles that were directly relevant to the filmgoers and displayed himself as a symbol of the fulfilment of their own dreams. MGR, however, made sure that his social image, which he gained by independent charity and social works, did not get merged with that of DMK.
With his rising popularity with the common man MGR fell into controversy by referring to K. Kamaraj
, the Congress leader, as My leader. MGR resigned as a Member of Legislative Council. Soon after, the attendance of his then newly released movie dropped, with DMK supporters boycotting the movie.
Just before the 1967 general elections MGR was shot by M. R. Radha in a personal dispute. This incident gained support of sympathising voters for DMK in the days leading up to the elections. Professor Hardgrave claims that at the time of the shooting incident MGR's popularity was slowly declining and the incident helped him regain his stature with the masses as well as the party. Whether DMK gained with MGR's popularity or MGR gained popularity with the rise of DMK remains a question for debate.
Although MGR's charisma probably played a significant role in DMK's success, his popularity also cost the party much. When the party leaders tried to neutralise his powers, MGR launched his own party in 1975, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with support of the lower cadres alone. According to Professor Hardgrave one of the reasons for antipathy between MGR and the DMK leadership was Karunanidhi's attempt to bring his son M. K. Muthu into the party to replace MGR and to convert MGR fan clubs into Muthu fan clubs. The fictionalized account of the troubled relationship between Karunanidhi and MGR was later portrayed in the Tamil film Iruvar
(The Duo) in 1997.
When MGR formed his own party, Karunanidhi underestimated MGR's popularity and commented on AIADMK as "a successful movie’s 100 day run". However, with the support from his fans and low cadres alone, MGR won the 1977 state elections
with a landslide victory and continued to rule the state until his death.
to pair with MGR on screen. She was inducted into AIADMK by MGR himself and frequently accompanied him to party rallies until MGR left for the United States
for medical treatment in 1984. After his return, MGR was always accompanied by Janaki Ramachandran
, his wife of forty years, until his death in 1987.
Soon after MGR's death, AIADMK was split between his widow Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalitha. Although both factions had lost the elections, Jayalalitha's AIADMK won 27 seats when compared to just one won by Janaki's party. Following the election defeat, Janaki retired from active politics and the two party factions rejoined. Although a successful film star of yesteryear, according to Professor Sara Dickey, Jayalalitha's popularity in politics comes from MGR rather than her own success on screen. She served three terms as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, including the present term, as of 2011.
in the 1996 elections. His movie Muthu (1995) makes indirect reference to the then AIADMK head and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha. His movies such as Mannan
and Padayappa
had characters which were politically identified with Jayalalitha. He later moved his alegance to the Bharathiya Janata Party in 2004 Parliament Lok Sabha
elections. Rajinikanth is no longer active in politics. Another leading actor of Tamil film land Kamal Hasan is a well known follower of Periyar.
Two recent film stars have launched their own parties. Of them Vijaya T. Rajendran was well known supporter of DMK for a long time, although he did not incorporate its ideas into the movies. After a personal feud with the DMK leadership he launched his own party All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
in 2004. The other Tamil film star being Vijayakanth who had earlier converted his fan clubs into social service organisations, initially as typical, Dravidian, for-the-Tamils.
His party, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
is now placing itself as an alternative to main-stream Dravidian parties.He is the Tamil Nadu opposite party president(Ethir Katchi Thalaivar).
Vijayakanth himself is from a pro-Congress family.
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
has played a vital role in Dravidian politics in the South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. Films have been influential in Indian politics since the days of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, when movies were used for anti-British propaganda. Nevertheless, the leaders of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
viewed movie media with contempt. It was the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
(DMK), a Dravidian party, that made extensive use of this media for propaganda purposes. Adversaries of Dravidian parties despised the use of films and screen popularity for political gain, and Congress leaders like K. Kamaraj
K. Kamaraj
Kumarasami Kamaraj better known as K. Kamaraj was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975...
questioned the possibility of movie stars forming governments.
C. N. Annadurai
C. N. Annadurai
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai , popularly called Anna , or Arignar Anna was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
, the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from a Dravidian party, was the forerunner in introducing Dravidian ideologies into movie scripts. Of the movies made by Dravidian politicians Parasakthi (1952) was a turning point, as it was a huge box office hit and made radical comments against the social hierarchy set by the caste system and glorified the Dravidian movement. M. Karunanidhi
M. Karunanidhi
Muthuvel Karunanidhi is an Indian politician and a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the leader of the DMK since the death of its founder, C. N...
,former Chief Minister, scripted the screen play for Parasakthi, in which Sivaji Ganesan
Sivaji Ganesan
Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
and S. S. Rajendran, two founding members of the DMK, made their screen debuts.
Movies produced by the DMK Party received severe censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
from the then ruling Congress government. According to Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran was a prominent Tamil politician in India, and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party which is headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 36 years, he was made a Union Minister in three separate central governments, in...
, a former Union Minister from DMK, the censors would remove parts of the movies, so that the coherence of the screen play was lost, making the movies a box office failure. The script writers used equivocating phrases and words to evade the censorship.
Five out of seven chief ministers from Dravidian parties were actively involved in Tamil cinema either as writers or as actors. M. G. Ramachandran
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials , was an Indian film actor, director, producer and politician....
was the most successful. He launched his own Dravidian party after personal differences with the leaders of DMK, and rose to power as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu mostly with the help of his movie fans and low level cadres. The legacy of politics in Tamil filmdom still continues, though less prominently than in the 1950s to 1970s.
Dravidian movement
The Dravidian movement was founded in 1925 by Periyar E. V. RamasamyPeriyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
(popularly known as Periyar). The movement aimed to achieve a society where backward castes have equal human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and encouraging them to have self-respect in the context of a caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
-based society that considered them to be at the lower end of the social hierarchy. In Tamil Nadu an array of regional parties, termed Dravidian parties, owe their origin either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
(DMK) and its political rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
(AIADMK) have been the major Dravidian parties.
One of the major platforms of the Dravidian movement was to achieve political change by means of awareness within the society in everyday life. Thus Dravidian politicians viewed film media as an apt vehicle to promote such a revolution.
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema, like its counterparts in other languages in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, is known as a melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic entertainment form plotted around twists of fate set in exaggerated locales, and filled with songs and dances.
Although a few stars from other southern states
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
have tried to use film popularity as a stepping stone in politics, such as N. T. Rama Rao
N. T. Rama Rao
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao , also known as NTR and fondly referred to as Anna Garu, was an Indian film actor, director, producer, and a politician...
(Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
), Rajkumar
Rajkumar
Rajkumar , born as Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju was a popular actor and singer in the Kannada film industry...
(Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
) and Prem Nazir
Prem Nazir
Abdul Khader , better known by his stage name Prem Nazir , was an Indian film actor. He is considered one of the all time super stars in Malayalam cinema...
(Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
), it was in Tamil Nadu that it was most prominent, with five of the seven Chief Ministers from Dravidian parties hailing from the Tamil film industry. In a state such as Tamil Nadu, where no single caste is predominant, film stars were considered people with wide acceptability to lead. According to Emeritus Professor K. Sivathamby, the movie halls themselves acted as a symbol of social equality. He states
Politicizing Tamil cinema
Early Tamil films were mainly based on mythological stories, and movies based on contemporary society started only in 1936. With the end of the era of silent moviesSilent Movies
Silent Movies are 13 solo guitar compositions by Marc Ribot released September 28, 2010 on Pi Recordings.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "For those interested in one of the more compelling and quietly provocative and graceful guitar records of 2010,...
in the 1930s many stage actors joined the Tamil cinema, and brought the ideologies of Gandhian philosophies with them.
Although the Congress party made use of movie stars such as K. B. Sundarambal
K. B. Sundarambal
Kodumudi Balambal Sundarambal was a renowned stage artist and singer of South India. She was popularly referred to as the "Queen of the Indian stage." She was noted both for her resonant, vibrant voice and for the dignity of her performances. A political activist during the Indian independence...
to appear at political meetings, some congressmen of that era looked upon movie media with contempt. Tamil Congress leaders like C. Rajagopalachari
C. Rajagopalachari
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari , informally called Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, independence activist, politician, writer and statesman. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India...
considered movie media to be a source of moral corruption. K. Kamaraj
K. Kamaraj
Kumarasami Kamaraj better known as K. Kamaraj was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975...
, then president of the All India Congress, mocked DMK's desire to get into power in this statement:
DMK and cinema
Attempts made by some Congress leaders to use stars of Tamil cinema, however minimal, were limited since this media remained inaccessible to the rural population (who were in the majority). The politicizing of movies by the Congress virtually stopped soon after Indian Independence in 1947. With the introduction of electricityElectricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
to rural areas in the 1950s Dravidian politicians could implement movies as a major political organ.
In post colonial India, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was the first — at the time the only — party to take advantage of visual movie media. Actors and writers of guerrilla theater, who were inspired by the ideologies of Periyar, brought the philosophies of Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism in India is an aspiration by some Tamils to establish, at minimum, self determination or at maximum secession from India to establish an Independent Tamil State of which would consist of today's Tamil nadu, Puducherry and Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka...
and anti-Brahminism to celluloid media. The movies not only made direct references to the independent Dravida Nadu that its leaders preached for but also at many times displayed party symbols within the movie. Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran was a prominent Tamil politician in India, and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party which is headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 36 years, he was made a Union Minister in three separate central governments, in...
, former central minister from DMK, considered that the DMK movies reflected the faces of both the past (demonstrating the rich language and culture of Tamils) and the future (with social justice). The DMK films espoused Dravidian ideologies through use of lengthy dialogues in its initial movies. Nevertheless, as the party's political aspirations grew, the movies based on Dravidian social reformation themes were replaced with stories that would enhance star popularity.
Censorship in DMK movies
The initial DMK movies were not victims of censorshipCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
since the party was little known to the censors, but as the party gained popularity in mid 1950s censorship became stronger. According to Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran was a prominent Tamil politician in India, and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party which is headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 36 years, he was made a Union Minister in three separate central governments, in...
one of the techniques followed by the censors was to make sure that the coherence of the movie was lost so that it was a box office failure. At one point DMK, having had been a target of high censorship, had to move back to stage dramas. But the Dramatic Licensing Act brought censorship to stage plays as well, and two of Karunanidhi's plays were banned.
To evade censorship DMK scriptwriters chose to use pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s and equivocal phrases. The most commonly used pun was Anna which is the word for older brother in Tamil and also was the popular name for DMK chief C. N. Annadurai
C. N. Annadurai
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai , popularly called Anna , or Arignar Anna was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
. When Anna was praised on screen the audience would break into applause.
Script writers of DMK
C. N. Annadurai
The use of movie media as a major propaganda vehicle of Dravidian ideologies was first introduced by Annadurai, the founder chief of DMK, through his scripts. During his initial days with Dravidar Kazhagam, Annadurai wrote dramas which promoted social reforms and non-Brahmin self-respect ideologies. After the formation of DMK, Annadurai, along with E. V. K. SampathE. V. K. Sampath
Erode Venkatta Naicker Krishnasamy Sampath , usually referred to as E. V. K. Sampath was a prominent politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He was an advocate of Dravidian Movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and was considered by some as his political heir. He later split from Periyar's Dravidar...
(Periyar's nephew and one of the founders of DMK) and actor K. R. Ramaswamy, staged several plays promoting Dravidian ideologies. The DMK party's head office was purchased using the money raised through these plays. Annadurai scripted six screen plays in total.
His first movie was Nallathambi
Nallathambi
Nallathambi is a 1949 Tamil film starring and produced by N. S. Krishnan. The film's script was written by C. N. Annadurai . This film marked Annadurai's debut in Tamil films.-Production:...
(Good Brother, 1948), which starred N. S. Krishnan
N. S. Krishnan
Nagerkoyil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan , popularly known as Kalaivanar and also as 'NSK' was a leading Tamil film comedian, drama artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry - in the 1940s and 1950s....
. It promoted cooperative farming and the abolition of the zamindari system of taxation. His movies such as Velaikaari
Velaikaari
Velaikaari is a 1949 Tamil film produced by Jupiter Pictures. It was based on the play of the same name written by C. N. Annadurai . This was the second film to be based on Annadurai's plays.-Production:...
(Servant Maid, 1949) and Or Iravu
Or Iravu
Or Iravu is a 1951 Tamil film produced by AVM Productions. It was based on the play of the same name written by C. N. Annadurai .-Production:...
carried the hallmarks of propaganda for Dravidian politics. On Velaikari, Annadurai said that the movie
Velaikari made direct criticisms of suppressive landlords who were traditionally allied with Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
and Gandhi. When DMK won the elections in 1967, Annadurai served as its first Chief Minister until his death in 1969.
Karunanidhi
Karunanidhi, the other major leader from DMK, started his propaganda efforts with Parasakthi (1952). Parasakthi was a turning point in Tamil cinema, as until then most movies contained up to 55 songs and were mostly based on mythologies. Parasakthi was initially banned. When it was finally released in 1952 it emerged as a huge box office hit.Like that of his political mentor Annadurai, Karunanidhi's movies carried elements of Dravidian political ideologies such as anti-Brahminism and anti Congress Party messages. Two of the movies that contained such messages were Panam
Panam
Panam may refer to:* Pan Am , a television series centered around Pan American World Airways during the 1960s* Pan American World Airways, the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927–1991...
and Thangarathnam. The overall themes of the movies were remarriage of widows, untouchability
Untouchability
Untouchability is the social practice of ostracizing a minority group by segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate. The excluded group could be one that did not accept the norms of the excluding group and historically included foreigners, nomadic tribes, law-breakers...
, self-respect marriages, abolition of zamindari and abolition of religious hypocrisy.
Until 1949-50 Tamil film dialogues were in a Brahminical slang of the Tamil language. Annadurai and Karunanidhi introduced Tamil close to formal language and void of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
influence. According to Professor Robert Hardgrave Jr, the popularity of their movie dialogues made both Annadurai and Karunanidhi "stars in their own right." After the death of Annadurai, Karunanidhi assumed the office of the Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu, and with intermediate periods of in and out of power, he currently serves his 5th term as the chief.
K. R. Ramaswamy
K. R. Ramaswamy was a popular Tamil actor of both stage and screen in the 1940s and 50s. He was one of the founding leaders of the DMK and it was his earnings that initially financed the party. A talented singer and actor, he was called a Nadipisai Pulavar (acting and singing poet) by the popular masses. Improvements in technology in the film industry, including playback singingPlayback singer
A playback singer is a singer whose singing is prerecorded for use in movies. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras, while the actual singer does not appear on screen.-South Asia:...
, along with personal problems ended the career of Ramaswamy. Nevertheless, he was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council (upper house of the State) by Annadurai in recognition of his service to the party.
N. S. Krishnan
N. S. Krishnan, or NSK as he was popularly known, was a Tamil comic actor and, as the times then required, a talented singer. He was never officially a member of any Dravidian party, but served the DMK to a great extent. He was one of the few non-Brahmins of his era to be popular in a Brahmin-dominated Tamil film industry. His favorite character to play in the movies was a Brahmin buffoon, which he would also enact in DMK meetings. NSK was highly influenced by the ideologies of Periyar and sowed the seeds of anti-Brahmanism in his scripts. NSK served the cause of DMK so much that the last public gathering Annadurai ever attended was to unveil a statue of NSK at a busy intersession in ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
.
M. R. Radha
M. R. Radha was a stage actor and was popular through his roles as villain on screen. He was an ardent follower of Periyar and was close to most DMK leaders before they split from Dravidiar Kazhagam. Both Annadurai and Karunanidhi were part of M. R. Radha's troupe at different times and had even acted in his plays.Sivaji Ganesan
Sivaji Ganesan is a veteran actor of Tamil cinema. He started his acting career at the age of six and toured with various drama troupes including that of M. R. Radha. The actor himself was named Shivaji by Periyar E. V. Ramasami after his role portraying the Maratiya king in a play named Chandra Mohan. In Chandra Mohan the Maratiya king triumphs over Brahmins and the role of the villainous Brahmin was played by Annadurai himself.Sivaji Ganesan made his movie debut in 1952 with Parasakthi, which opens with a song that glorifies Dravidian culture. Sivaji was a Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
, whereas at the time he entered the film industry most other major actors were Telugus. He later became one of the founding members of DMK. Although it was DMK movies that brought Sivaji to the limelight he found that the responsibilities that the party threw at him limited his acting career. His association with DK and with DMK gave him an atheistic reputation that acted as a barrier between him and the religious segment of the audience. Realising that DMK was no longer an asset to his career, he attacked it as a glamour party and broke party protocol by his pilgrimage to Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
. With the growing popularity of MGR in the party, Sivaji left DMK and aligned with the Tamil Nationalist Party of E. V. K. Sampath
E. V. K. Sampath
Erode Venkatta Naicker Krishnasamy Sampath , usually referred to as E. V. K. Sampath was a prominent politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He was an advocate of Dravidian Movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and was considered by some as his political heir. He later split from Periyar's Dravidar...
. When the Tamil Nationalist Party was dissolved he joined the Congress Party. Although Congress itself lost in the elections in the 1967, Sivaji's fans kept the party alive. In spite of being an active member of the Congress party, he made sure his movies were free of political references. After differences with party leaders he launched his own party, Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani
Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani
Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani was a short-lived political party formed in 1988 in Tamil Nadu, India. The party was found by veteran Tamil film actor Sivaji Ganesan. Ganesan had a long running relation with many political parties, with his first movie itself being a propaganda movie of Dravida...
, in 1989 but with little success, even losing his security deposit in the 1991 assembly election
Tamil Nadu state assembly election, 1991
The tenth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 24 June 1991. The Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Indian National Congress alliance won the elections in a landslide and ADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa became the chief minister. This was her first term in office...
.
S. S. Rajendran
S. S. Rajendran (known popularly as SSR) was initially a theater artist like Shivaji who starred in many plays for Dravidar Kazhagam. Like Sivaji, he debuted in Parasakthi. Being one of the most popular stars of Tamil cinema in the 1950s and 60s, he raised funds for DMK and acted in movies glorifying Dravidian ideologies.SSR was the first elected member of legislative assembly among actors in India in 1962.Personal problems led to a fall in his film career and in politics. Having spent most of his earnings for the party he found himself in a deep financial crisis. His movie career brought another star of DMK, M. G. Ramachandran, to cross swords with him, and his political ambitions brought Karunanidhi against him. Sensing trouble in all quarters SSR made a highly political movie, Thangarathinam, to coincide with the 1967 election campaign to prove his loyalty to the party. The party won a landslide victory in the 1967 general elections, but soon after the elections the animosity between SSR and Karunanidhi deepened. SSR complained of threats to his life and eventually left DMK to join AIADMK along with his old friend MGR. His aspirations as a political stalwart and as a film superstar were overshadowed by M. G. Ramachandran.M. G. Ramachandran
M. G. Ramachandran (popularly known as MGR) was the foremost star for DMK propaganda during its peak and was politically the most successful of any film stars in India. MGR had a simple beginning in stage plays at the age of six. MGR was first invited by Annadurai to star in one of his movies in the 1950s. From then on MGR actively participated in the party's meetings. His films such as Nadodi MannanNadodi Mannan
Nadodi Mannan is a Tamil language film starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role. The film was released in the year 1958.The Film was re released several times and runs successfully whenever it is being re-released. Latest, in 2005 it was re-released and ran success fully for 100 days...
(Vagabond King, 1958), Enga Vitu Pillai (Son of our House, 1965), Nam Nadu (Our Nation, 1969), Adimai Penn (Slave Girl, 1969) and Engal Thangam (Our Gold or Our Precious, 1970) displayed a stereotypical image of a philanthropic, mundane hero made out of a vagrant who becomes a king.
Unlike other DMK actors, MGR used his screen popularity in social works as well, which included financing the poor, running orphanages and participating in disaster relief. MGR's movies portrayed him as a friend of the poor and downtrodden. MGR himself commented
MGR always acted as a hero and made sure that he was always portrayed in a good light on screen. With the departure of Sivaji Ganesan from DMK, MGR's position within the party grew stronger. In contrast to Parasakthi, MGR's movies made less reference to social justice but dwelled more on contemporary political scenarios. The movies typically included references to Dravida and MGR would be clad in red and black (the DMK flag colours). In sharp contrast with earlier DMK movies where the overall theme was used for propaganda, in MGR's movies the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
was shown as a representative of the party ideology, who would fight against evil and support the poor. Thus he played roles that were directly relevant to the filmgoers and displayed himself as a symbol of the fulfilment of their own dreams. MGR, however, made sure that his social image, which he gained by independent charity and social works, did not get merged with that of DMK.
With his rising popularity with the common man MGR fell into controversy by referring to K. Kamaraj
K. Kamaraj
Kumarasami Kamaraj better known as K. Kamaraj was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975...
, the Congress leader, as My leader. MGR resigned as a Member of Legislative Council. Soon after, the attendance of his then newly released movie dropped, with DMK supporters boycotting the movie.
Just before the 1967 general elections MGR was shot by M. R. Radha in a personal dispute. This incident gained support of sympathising voters for DMK in the days leading up to the elections. Professor Hardgrave claims that at the time of the shooting incident MGR's popularity was slowly declining and the incident helped him regain his stature with the masses as well as the party. Whether DMK gained with MGR's popularity or MGR gained popularity with the rise of DMK remains a question for debate.
Although MGR's charisma probably played a significant role in DMK's success, his popularity also cost the party much. When the party leaders tried to neutralise his powers, MGR launched his own party in 1975, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with support of the lower cadres alone. According to Professor Hardgrave one of the reasons for antipathy between MGR and the DMK leadership was Karunanidhi's attempt to bring his son M. K. Muthu into the party to replace MGR and to convert MGR fan clubs into Muthu fan clubs. The fictionalized account of the troubled relationship between Karunanidhi and MGR was later portrayed in the Tamil film Iruvar
Iruvar
Iruvar is a 1997 Tamil film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Mani Ratnam, with music composed by A. R. Rahman. The film is a fictionalized account of the lives of 1980s Tamil Nadu political icons M. G. Ramachandran and M...
(The Duo) in 1997.
When MGR formed his own party, Karunanidhi underestimated MGR's popularity and commented on AIADMK as "a successful movie’s 100 day run". However, with the support from his fans and low cadres alone, MGR won the 1977 state elections
Tamil Nadu state assembly election, 1977
The sixth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on June 10, 1977. Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won the election defeating its rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam . M. G. Ramachandran was sworn in as Chief Minister for the first time. The election was a four cornered contest between...
with a landslide victory and continued to rule the state until his death.
J. Jayalalitha
Jayalalitha was the last main leading ladyLeading lady
Leading lady is an informal term for the actress who plays a secondary lead or supporting role, usually a love interest, to the leading actor in a film or play. It is not usually applied to the leading actress in the performance if her character is the protagonist.A leading lady can also be an...
to pair with MGR on screen. She was inducted into AIADMK by MGR himself and frequently accompanied him to party rallies until MGR left for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for medical treatment in 1984. After his return, MGR was always accompanied by Janaki Ramachandran
Janaki Ramachandran
Janaki Ramachandran , popularly known as V.N. Janaki , was an Indian Tamil actress and politician. She was born to Rajagopal Iyer and Narayani Amma in the town of Vaikom in Kerala State. She had a brother P. Narayanan who was an educationalist...
, his wife of forty years, until his death in 1987.
Soon after MGR's death, AIADMK was split between his widow Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalitha. Although both factions had lost the elections, Jayalalitha's AIADMK won 27 seats when compared to just one won by Janaki's party. Following the election defeat, Janaki retired from active politics and the two party factions rejoined. Although a successful film star of yesteryear, according to Professor Sara Dickey, Jayalalitha's popularity in politics comes from MGR rather than her own success on screen. She served three terms as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, including the present term, as of 2011.
Later years
In post MGR years, political reference in Tamil cinema had been less sporadic. Rajinikanth, one of the highest paid actors in India, supported the DMK and its ally Tamil Maanila CongressTamil Maanila Congress
The Tamil Maanila Congress was a political party in Tamil Nadu. It was started by G K Moopanar by breaking away from the Indian National Congress protesting the decision of the party high command to form an alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. After the death of Moopanar, his...
in the 1996 elections. His movie Muthu (1995) makes indirect reference to the then AIADMK head and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha. His movies such as Mannan
Mannan
Mannan is a plant polysaccharide that is a polymer of the sugar mannose.Detection of mannan leads to lysis in the mannan-binding lectin pathway.It is generally found in yeast, bacteria and plants. It shows α linkage. It is a form of storage polysaccharide.-See Also:Mannan Oligosaccharides...
and Padayappa
Padayappa
Padayappa is a 1999 Tamil drama film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film features Rajinikanth, Soundarya and Ramya Krishnan playing lead roles, whilst Sivaji Ganesan, Lakshmi and Nassar play pivotal supporting roles. With soundtrack composed by A. R...
had characters which were politically identified with Jayalalitha. He later moved his alegance to the Bharathiya Janata Party in 2004 Parliament Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
elections. Rajinikanth is no longer active in politics. Another leading actor of Tamil film land Kamal Hasan is a well known follower of Periyar.
Two recent film stars have launched their own parties. Of them Vijaya T. Rajendran was well known supporter of DMK for a long time, although he did not incorporate its ideas into the movies. After a personal feud with the DMK leadership he launched his own party All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a political party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu launched by Tamil film maker T. Rajendar in April 2004. The party was formed as a result of T. Rajendar's expulsion from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.This party haven't take part in the 2011 polls....
in 2004. The other Tamil film star being Vijayakanth who had earlier converted his fan clubs into social service organisations, initially as typical, Dravidian, for-the-Tamils.
His party, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam is a regional political party formed by Tamil film actor Vijayakanth in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu along the lines of the regional Dravidian political parties. He formally announced party formation on September 14, 2005 at Madurai...
is now placing itself as an alternative to main-stream Dravidian parties.He is the Tamil Nadu opposite party president(Ethir Katchi Thalaivar).
Vijayakanth himself is from a pro-Congress family.
External links
- The celluloid connection — An article on long running connection between Tamil Cinema and politics.
- Tamil Cinema - தமிழ்த் திரைப் படம்