And Their Voices Resonated from Parallel Worlds: A Study on the Portrayal of Adivasi Women Characters in Malayalam Parallel Cinema

Abstract

Malayalam Cinema has proved its mettle in various national and international venues with its innovative treatment of offbeat themes and has demonstrated its efficacy in attracting a large pool of moviegoers worldwide. Still, when it comes to the realistic portrayal of the Adivasi communities in Kerala, mainstream Malayalam cinema lags like any other film industry in India. The selective erasure of well-delineated Adivasi women characters is perceivable in mainstream film narratives, even in Malayalam. Nevertheless, a refreshing change can be witnessed in the depiction of Adivasi women in the Malayalam parallel cinema of recent years. Here, an Adivasi woman does not play the role of a mere victim of the atrocities meted out to her, but rather, she is represented as being resilient in her mind and body. Another promising change is the surfacing of Adivasi auteur Leela Santhosh who incorporates the distinctive ‘Paniya’ dialect in her screenplays to provide constructive solutions to agonies faced by the women in her community. Since the portrayal of Adivasi womanhood in Malayalam parallel cinema has evolved over the years, it would be rewarding to chart this change. The present paper seeks to find the factors responsible for these shifting perceptions by placing these portrayals against the backdrop of sociological studies conducted among the tribes of Kerala.