Naxalite - Cultural References

Cultural References

The British musical group Asian Dub Foundation have a song called "Naxalite", which is featured on the soundtrack to the 1999 film Brokedown Palace. A 2005 movie called Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, directed by Sudhir Mishra, was set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement. In August 2008, Kabeer Kaushik's Chamku, starring Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra, explored the story of a boy who is brainwashed to take arms against the state.

In the novel English August by Upamanyu Chatterjee, there is reference to Naxal cadres whom the main protagonist, an IAS officer meets while visiting a tribal village in mid-1980s.

In the novel The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, there is a reference to a character joining the Naxalites.

In the novel The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, the Naxals (sic) are mentioned often by the poor and the rich alike.

In the novel A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, the character Omprakash makes and allusion to fighting "like the Naxalites" (195).

In the 2012 novel "The Truth" by Michael Palin the protagonist Mabbutt is kidnapped by Naxalites whom are protecting his subject, Hamish Melville.

In 1974 Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Mahasweta Devi wrote Hajar Churashir Maa (Mother of 1084), giving a ideological and sympathetic support to the Naxalites. It was made to a film in 1998 naming Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa. It starred Jaya Bachchan as the mother of 1084, who was leader killed by the state. The 2009 Malayalam movie Thalappavu portrays the story of Naxal Varghese, who was shot allegedly dead by the police during the 70s.

In the Kannada movie Veerappa Nayaka, Vishnuvardhan portrays a Gandhian whose son becomes a Naxalite. The 2007 Kannada movie Maathaad Maathaadu Mallige, again portrays Vishnuvardhan as a Gandhian, who confronts a Naxalite Sudeep and shows him that the ways adopted by Naxals will only lead to violence and will not achieve their objective.

Eka Nakshalwadya Cha Janma, (Marathi: The birth of a Naxal), a novel written by Vilas Balkrishna Manohar, a volunteer with the Lok Biradari Prakalp, is a fictional account of a Madia Gond Juru's unwilling journey of life his metamorphosis from an exploited nameless tribal to a Naxal.

In 2010, a Hindi drama movie Red Alert: The War Within was released that is based on the true story of a poor Andhra cook who gets caught in the gunfire between cops and Naxalites and is forced to work with the latter.

In the 2011 Tamil political thriller film Ko, naxalites are shown to rob a bank, overthrow the government and disrupt elections. At the end, it is shown that the naxalites were only used for political gains by the corrupt politicians.

Sindhooram, a National Award winning Telugu film released in 1997, portrays a young police officer becoming a naxalite under unavoidable circumstances. Directed by Krishna Vamsi, the movie was critically acclaimed for its direction and the performances of its lead actors.

chakravyuh a film by prakash jha was released this year. it revolves around the theme of naxalites, but has been criticized for showing sympathy for naxals till ridiculous levels.