Srutheesh Kannadi
The recently released Malayalam movie Lokah Chapter 1 Chandra, which claims to be the first female-led superhero movie in India, has sparked a discussion among a larger audience due to its content, visual experience, and innovative treatment. However, this is not a review of the movie Lokah, but an attempt to interpret the cinematic universe imagined by Lokah within the contemporary socio-political context. Since 2014, when right-wing politics occupied power, there have been enormous socio-political changes happening in our country. The institutionalisation of right-wing philosophy through various state machinery has normalised Hindutva narratives and their constructed realities. Art, literature, academics, and films have been either appropriated or attempted to be destroyed by the Hindutva forces.
The film industry faces a significant impact of Hindutva narratives and appropriation tactics. There are mainly two reasons for this. Beginning from the history of Nazi Germany, movies have always been used as a powerful propaganda tool to construct and destroy narratives. The Nazis effectively used state-sponsored movies to normalise and justify hatred, violence, and pogroms to build a public conscience in favour of them. The Hindutva forces take a similar approach to construct false narratives through propaganda movies, presenting the Hindu myths, idols, symbols, and epics to build narratives and create a political ground in favour of them. There are propaganda movies that justify violence against minorities by creating a false fear against various religious and ethnic identities. Movies have overtly become a political tool of the right-wing philosophy. A large number of filmmakers with a soft Hindu stance have started incorporating Hindutva narratives and myths into their movies to satisfy the majoritarian perspective and aim for success at the box office.
In the present context, Hindu sentiments, ideology, and myths have become a genre and tactic used for the commercial success of movies. Therefore, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between the elements of propaganda and business in the film industry. This reality has resulted in the rise and normalisation of Hindu mythological movies in various regional languages in India.
The Malayalam movie Lokah Chapter 1 Chandra can be viewed within this peculiar socio-political context. Since the release of Baahubali 1, there has been a serious attempt and temptation among filmmakers to create pan-Indian movies. The idea of ‘pan-India’ itself is problematic if viewed through a critical socio-political lens. When a cultural product, such as a movie, needs to be accepted by a pan-Indian audience, it has to subtly negate regional diversities, local narratives, and cultures and dominate them with a unified cultural imagination. Constructing a unified cultural identity is a right-wing philosophy to amplify and dominate their political ideology across the country. Consciously or unconsciously, the so-called pan indian movies are acting as a tool to legitimise this concept. The majority of the movies that attempted to become pan Indian have incorporated Hindu religious narratives to grab the attention of the majority. This means a cultural hegemony is being imposed over the regional and subnational cultures of this country. And it was Baahubali that actually opened up the possibility of pan-Indian success by incorporating Hindu mythology and thereby satisfying the majoritarian interests, followed by movies like RRR, Kalki, Brahmastra, etc. There are a few exceptions to this list as well. These movies aimed for commercial success by emotionally appealing to the majoritarian worldview; there were state-supported propaganda films that were overtly a political attempt to ‘otherise’ communities and opposing political ideologies. The recognition and awards received by The Kerala Story in the recent National Film Awards are a recent example that validates this argument.
Movies like Kalki and Brahmastra are attempting to create a cinematic universe by drawing inspiration from Hindu mythology and epics. And it is in this context that the cinematic universe of Lokah appears to be entirely different. Lokah is actually reimagining the subcultural icons and myths of the regional communities in Kerala and presenting them to a larger audience. The characters, such as Chathan and Kalliyankattu Neeli, in the movie are often otherised subaltern cultural icons in the public sphere of Kerala. These characters hold cultural significance among the diverse subcultural identities, local narratives, and belief systems of the various marginalised communities within Kerala. By reimagining these cultural icons and myths and integrating them into the mainstream public sphere, Lokah is actually building a cinematic world of subaltern culture. Presenting these subaltern myths, which were once perceived as scary and dangerous figures by the mainstream public of Kerala, in an ultra-modern space and to international audiences, Lokah is redefining the idea of pan-Indian movies and constructing a counter-narrative within the larger movie industry that is being appropriated by right-wing politics. Lokah has also opened up the possibility of integrating other folklore characters, myths, and icons into its cinematic universe in the future, which would definitely deconstruct the idea of a majoritarian worldview and its associated belief systems.
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Srutheesh Kannadi is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at St Joseph’s University, Bangalore. He has been working on issues related to caste, marginality, and media.
