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How Kalaignar’s movie scripts show a subtle blend of Dravidian politics, mythology and women-centric stories

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“Odinaal Odinaal vaazhkaiyin orathirke odinaal.”

She ran and she ran. She ran till the end of her life.

This is just one line from the popular monologue, which was like a garland for the 1952 film ‘Parasakthi’.

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This popular monologue featuring Sivaji Ganesan ran for 5 minutes, as the character describes the evils of society and the dead ends that the poor face. While one can see the incredible acting of the then debutant Sivaji, the beauty of Kalaignar’s writing has made the scene a timeless classic.

M Karunanidhi began his career as an unknown scriptwriter at Jupiter Pictures. For the film ‘Abhimanyu’, Karunanidhi was silently assisting popular director A.S.A. Sami and didn’t receive credit. But years later it was realised that the script was his masterpiece. Arjuna’s speech at Abhimanyu’s funeral was particularly special, where Arjuna calls the latter “Anbu Tamizh Magan”, detaching the association of the epic to North India.

IN PICS | Life of Kalaignar M Karunanidhi in cinema

Politics

While looking back at Karunanidhi’s filmography, one finds that he enjoys mixing Dravidian politics with mythology and history. He is even known to subtly weave in political satire while writing. The 1953 film ‘Thirumbi Paar’ was inspired by the story of Ahalya, the wife of Gautama Maharishi. Kalaignar cleverly used this movie as an opportunity to take a jab at Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister, who condemned the Dravidian movement as “Nonsense”. In the film, Sivaji Ganesan’s character, who was dressed much like Nehru, repeatedly uses “Nonsense!” in his dialogue.

In the 1952 Sivaji-starrer ‘Panam’ the Kalaignar joined hands with lyricist Kannadasan and director N. S. Krishnan to bring out more elements of politics and social reforms. A popular song in the movie talks of a political party called Thirukural Munnani Kazhagam. The song subtly describes the DMK flag: “karuppu sigappu indha bedhathai neekkum” (black and red will remove discrimination).

Tamil epics

Kalaignar also experimented with famous Tamil epics such as Kundalakesi and Silapadigaaram, adding his own twists to the legends. In the 1950 historical film ‘Mandhiri Kumari’, he retold the story of the female monk Kundalakesi through the character Amudavalli. Amudavalli is lured to the edge of a cliff by her evil husband who reveals to her that he plans to push her off it. She asks him one last wish to go around him three times as a ritual. She pushes him off the cliff as she goes behind him.

The writer’s last film in 2011 was based on Tamil epic from the Gounder community called ‘Ponnar Shankar. The story, which is also a novel written by Kalaignar, is about two brave brother descending from a Gounder King. 

Women-centric stories

Across the 75 films that the Kalaignar wrote, there are many stories that depict the lives of women. ‘Nayaya Tharasu’ from 1989 was one such film, which Karunanidhi wrote while he was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. This was an intense story about a Naxal activist who is out on parole for two weeks. Due to trouble with her family, she seeks refuge at a journalist’s house, who helps her get a government remission to get released. But when she visits her friend to share the good news, she walks in on her husband gangraping the latter. She surrenders herself at the police station after killing him.

Also Read: ‘He loved Tamil, and Tamil loved him back’

Another impactful story is of the 1965 film ‘Poomalai’. Played by CR Vijayakumari, Poomalai is a happy-go-lucky girl living with her father and elder brother. Things take a rough turn in her life when she is raped.

While Kalaignar leaves behind his unforgettable contributions to the Tamil film industry, one finds that it thoroughly reflects his love for the language. The DMK leader brought many fictional characters alive and highlighted realities in the world, leaving his audience wanting more.

Source: The New Indian Express