Tamil Cinema and Dravidian Politics - DMK and Cinema

DMK and Cinema

"The DMK films served an audience the party could never have reached by other means. " — Professor Robert Hardgrave

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 electricity 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.