Politicizing Tamil Cinema
"They (Congress party) decried the cinema. We (DMK) used it." — Kannadasan, a Tamil film song writer
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 movies 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:
| “ | How can there be government by actors?. | ” |
Read more about this topic: Tamil Cinema And Dravidian Politics
Famous quotes containing the word cinema:
“Compare ... the cinema with theatre. Both are dramatic arts. Theatre brings actors before a public and every night during the season they re-enact the same drama. Deep in the nature of theatre is a sense of ritual. The cinema, by contrast, transports its audience individually, singly, out of the theatre towards the unknown.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)