Papers by S. G. Bharatvaraj
South Asian Review
During the 1990s, the VCK evolved as a radical Dalit movement. Pledging to revolutionize the hist... more During the 1990s, the VCK evolved as a radical Dalit movement. Pledging to revolutionize the history of Tamil politics, Thirumavalavan, an icon of new generation Dalit activists, mobilized the lower castes of Tamil Nadu. The party emerged as a representative of Dalits, since Dravidian politics turned ineffective in handling Dalit concerns and caste issues. The main Dravidian parties—DMK and AIADMK—have moved a long way from the self-respect movement of Periyar. The Dravidian leaders, while abandoning Periyar’s social radicalism, introduced a philosophical tradition, Tamil nationalism—inspired by the Tamil literary tradition. However, this linguistic nationalism deserted caste issues while romanticizing the antiquity of the Tamil language and culture. In contrast, the VCK vociferously campaigned on a concept of anti-caste Tamil nationalism in the early times. It engages on the liberative Tamil Buddhism—advocating the need for a collective identity, caste-less-Tamilians. However, in the latter stage, Thirumavalavan focused much on Tamil Eelam politics, turning into in an explicit supporter of LTTE. The VCK has almost lost track of the anti-caste Tamil nationalist politics in the present times. This article focuses on how these political shifts and dimensions are represented in a Tamil film, named Madras, directed by Pa. Ranjith. Through an effective screenplay with strong symbolisms, Madras discusses one of the significant histories and trajectories of Tamil politics. The film commemorates the social movement politics of VCK during the 1990s. It counters the Tamil literary tradition of Dravidian parties and criticizes their linguistic nationalism. It portrays VCK’s anti-caste Tamil nationalism. Further, it criticizes the VCK for losing-track from the anti-caste politics. This article examines how Madras represent these political shifts. It explores how Madras presents a Dalit criticism of the Dravidian parties and also on the Dalit party.
SOUTH ASIAN POPULAR CULTURE , 2024
The right-wing extremists, BJP and RSS, have a long-term mission to construct a Hindu nation boun... more The right-wing extremists, BJP and RSS, have a long-term mission to construct a Hindu nation bound by Ramrajya, a political model derived from the epic Ramayana. In its nationalistic project, the Hindutva desires to incorporate Dalits. For achieving the same, it usurps Dalits by appropriating Ambedkar – through strategically eroding his radicalism. Additionally, it uses Ramayana as a cultural tool to de-ideologize Dalits. It promotes Ramayana as an egalitarian epic to Dalits – for subsuming them within the Ramrajya politics. Dalits are losing political consciousness and they are disoriented by the Hindutva. In this article, I explore how a Tamil film named Kaala, directed by Pa. Ranjith, has countered these efforts of the Hindutva in the popular culture. In Kaala, Ranjith challenges the Hindutva’s appropriation of Dalits by re-creating Ambedkar’s radical legacy on the big screens. In the film, he re-narrates the epic from an Ambedkarite perspective to counter the Hindutva’s efforts in de- ideologizing Dalits. Ranjith is a radical director who makes various transformations in Tamil cinema. His vision is to carry forward Ambedkarite politics in the popular culture. In this article, I explore how he effectively counters the Hindutva. To accomplish the objectives of the study, I use Ambedkarite framework as an analytical tool.
SOUTH ASIAN REVIEW, 2023
During the 1990s, the VCK evolved as a radical Dalit movement.
Pledging to revolutionize the hist... more During the 1990s, the VCK evolved as a radical Dalit movement.
Pledging to revolutionize the history of Tamil politics,
Thirumavalavan, an icon of new generation Dalit activists, mobilized the lower castes of Tamil Nadu. The party emerged as a
representative of Dalits, since Dravidian politics turned ineffective
in handling Dalit concerns and caste issues. The main Dravidian
parties—DMK and AIADMK—have moved a long way from the
self-respect movement of Periyar. The Dravidian leaders, while
abandoning Periyar’s social radicalism, introduced a philosophical
tradition, Tamil nationalism—inspired by the Tamil literary tradition. However, this linguistic nationalism deserted caste issues
while romanticizing the antiquity of the Tamil language and culture. In contrast, the VCK vociferously campaigned on a concept
of anti-caste Tamil nationalism in the early times. It engages on
the liberative Tamil Buddhism—advocating the need for a collective identity, caste-less-Tamilians. However, in the latter stage,
Thirumavalavan focused much on Tamil Eelam politics, turning
into in an explicit supporter of LTTE. The VCK has almost lost
track of the anti-caste Tamil nationalist politics in the present
times. This article focuses on how these political shifts and dimensions are represented in a Tamil film, named Madras, directed by
Pa. Ranjith. Through an effective screenplay with strong symbolisms, Madras discusses one of the significant histories and trajectories of Tamil politics. The film commemorates the social
movement politics of VCK during the 1990s. It counters the Tamil
literary tradition of Dravidian parties and criticizes their linguistic
nationalism. It portrays VCK’s anti-caste Tamil nationalism. Further,
it criticizes the VCK for losing-track from the anti-caste politics.
This article examines how Madras represent these political shifts.
It explores how Madras presents a Dalit criticism of the Dravidian
parties and also on the Dalit party.
International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews, 2019
Tamil cinema haven't engrossed solemn and assiduous academic studies from the indigenous research... more Tamil cinema haven't engrossed solemn and assiduous academic studies from the indigenous researcher hitherto. Only meager indigenous scholars have attempted to devote serious attentions on this realm, whereas many still contemplate Tamil cinema conclusively from a technical and narrative perspective, deserting its mandatory cultural and political functions. Whilst foreign researchers have invested assiduous effort to analyze diverse features of Tamil cinema for past three decades. This research envisage to explore the dimensions of caste along its trajectories from early talkies to contemporary films. The research would be affirmative to explore the seriousness of caste in Tamil cinema and helps to instigate future research on this realm.
American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 2018
It is seemingly an obligatory phenomenon to be observe and analyzecaste in Indian cinema, as cine... more It is seemingly an obligatory phenomenon to be observe and analyzecaste in Indian cinema, as cinema being an extension of art and literature, ostensibly serves an imperative function in representing the sociocultural, political scenarios of the country, since caste system is an integral entity in the socio-cultural sphere, it seems indispensable to examine the relationship of these binaries. Nicolas Deakin attributesfilm as the most potent media in understanding how a culture responds to various issues, from mental illness to social attitudes and behavior. Films reflect the society within which they are made but also influence society as a result.The gargantuan Hindi cinema have scanty contribution to the representation of caste related issues, moreover it's also imperative to understand on what ideological framework does the representation of Subalternis illustrated in such films. We hereby argue that the manifestation of Subaltern (Dalits) in Hindi cinema are relatively more in the Ghandian framework rather excommunicating the Phule-Ambedkarite perspective.The narratives of the Subalternin Hindi cinema mostly attempts to declare stereotypical imageries, variant only with few film makers. The article also attempts to putforth works of Nagarajmanjuleand other contemporary Hindi Film makers as an alternate approach to the preexisting subaltern (Dalit) narratives in Hindi cinema.
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Papers by S. G. Bharatvaraj
Pledging to revolutionize the history of Tamil politics,
Thirumavalavan, an icon of new generation Dalit activists, mobilized the lower castes of Tamil Nadu. The party emerged as a
representative of Dalits, since Dravidian politics turned ineffective
in handling Dalit concerns and caste issues. The main Dravidian
parties—DMK and AIADMK—have moved a long way from the
self-respect movement of Periyar. The Dravidian leaders, while
abandoning Periyar’s social radicalism, introduced a philosophical
tradition, Tamil nationalism—inspired by the Tamil literary tradition. However, this linguistic nationalism deserted caste issues
while romanticizing the antiquity of the Tamil language and culture. In contrast, the VCK vociferously campaigned on a concept
of anti-caste Tamil nationalism in the early times. It engages on
the liberative Tamil Buddhism—advocating the need for a collective identity, caste-less-Tamilians. However, in the latter stage,
Thirumavalavan focused much on Tamil Eelam politics, turning
into in an explicit supporter of LTTE. The VCK has almost lost
track of the anti-caste Tamil nationalist politics in the present
times. This article focuses on how these political shifts and dimensions are represented in a Tamil film, named Madras, directed by
Pa. Ranjith. Through an effective screenplay with strong symbolisms, Madras discusses one of the significant histories and trajectories of Tamil politics. The film commemorates the social
movement politics of VCK during the 1990s. It counters the Tamil
literary tradition of Dravidian parties and criticizes their linguistic
nationalism. It portrays VCK’s anti-caste Tamil nationalism. Further,
it criticizes the VCK for losing-track from the anti-caste politics.
This article examines how Madras represent these political shifts.
It explores how Madras presents a Dalit criticism of the Dravidian
parties and also on the Dalit party.
Pledging to revolutionize the history of Tamil politics,
Thirumavalavan, an icon of new generation Dalit activists, mobilized the lower castes of Tamil Nadu. The party emerged as a
representative of Dalits, since Dravidian politics turned ineffective
in handling Dalit concerns and caste issues. The main Dravidian
parties—DMK and AIADMK—have moved a long way from the
self-respect movement of Periyar. The Dravidian leaders, while
abandoning Periyar’s social radicalism, introduced a philosophical
tradition, Tamil nationalism—inspired by the Tamil literary tradition. However, this linguistic nationalism deserted caste issues
while romanticizing the antiquity of the Tamil language and culture. In contrast, the VCK vociferously campaigned on a concept
of anti-caste Tamil nationalism in the early times. It engages on
the liberative Tamil Buddhism—advocating the need for a collective identity, caste-less-Tamilians. However, in the latter stage,
Thirumavalavan focused much on Tamil Eelam politics, turning
into in an explicit supporter of LTTE. The VCK has almost lost
track of the anti-caste Tamil nationalist politics in the present
times. This article focuses on how these political shifts and dimensions are represented in a Tamil film, named Madras, directed by
Pa. Ranjith. Through an effective screenplay with strong symbolisms, Madras discusses one of the significant histories and trajectories of Tamil politics. The film commemorates the social
movement politics of VCK during the 1990s. It counters the Tamil
literary tradition of Dravidian parties and criticizes their linguistic
nationalism. It portrays VCK’s anti-caste Tamil nationalism. Further,
it criticizes the VCK for losing-track from the anti-caste politics.
This article examines how Madras represent these political shifts.
It explores how Madras presents a Dalit criticism of the Dravidian
parties and also on the Dalit party.