l a iglesia no puede
B. Describa el ministerio del líder
I began this chapter with a quotation that emphasised the secondary posi- tion assigned to the Tamil film kata˜-na˜yaki. This idea of women’s inferior position in Tamil movies is further reinforced in this paper which analyzes heroine portrayals from the perspective of the hero, thus making minimal reference to actresses despite the content’s emphasis on the position of kata˜- na˜yaki in films. A lack of emphasis on actresses however does not totally negate the popularity of female film stars among Tamil film viewers. Tamil
film kata˜-na˜yaki including T. P. Rajalakshmi, Banumathi, Padmini, Savitiri, Saroja Devi, Sri Devi, Radha, Khushboo, Meena, Jothika and Trisha have been and are popular12among viewers, but they rarely exist independently.
A discussion based exclusively on well-known actress Sri Devi’s films is almost unheard of in comparison to a similar discussion on famous actor Kamalahasan’s movies. Before I conclude, I like to highlight and discuss one more significant factor that could have been contributory to the kata˜- na˜yaki’s secondary roles in films. To reinforce my point, I begin with a quote by Hardgrave:
The actress in Tamil Nadu, however much she may attract a following, carries an aura of ill repute. She is generally associated with devadasi origins and some allegedly with a background in prostitution. Most actresses are believed to have ‘loose morals’ and there is a general dis- approval of any actress who continues in film after marriage. The actresses, however, is a source of ambivalence for most film fans. As the sacrificing and sympathetic wife or as the doe-eyed young heroine, she draws them to her but she is never fully able to escape the ambiance of ‘immorality’. The actor has the benefit of the double standard.
(Hardgrave 1993: 95) I contend that these inter-related ideas of film, female and reputation sug- gested by Hardgrave have been important in allowing the kata˜-na˜yaki to remain in a secondary role despite her transformation from a ‘passive sub- ject’ to a ‘pleasurable object’. In spite of the popularity of Tamil film stars and the fact that many of these stars have turned into politicians in the Tamil context, a career in films does not command much respect among the general masses. In fact, K. Kamaraj, a Congress party member, who was once Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, used a condescending term, ku˜ta˜ikal or mountebank, to refer to DMK personnel who were swiftly combining films and politics in a dynamic manner. There may be a minority that feels other- wise about film acting and reputation, especially in recent years. However, the majority seem to hold the traditional view with regard to film acting, especially in relation to women. Audience feedback highlighted by Dickey (1993a) also seems to present a similar picture where film viewers are certain with regard to the distance that exists between film stars and themselves. This demarcation can probably be explained using the nature of film acting. Film acting requires a woman to not only step out of the private sphere and enter an unknown public arena dominated by males but more importantly necessitates a female to present her own self as a spectacle for the gaze of both men and women. Therefore, by taking up acting as a film career, a woman immediately detaches herself from other common women. Hence, whether the Tamil film kata˜-na˜yaki emulates traditional female archetypes such as Sita, Kannaki and Vasuki, or shifts away from these prototypes to present her as a spectacle that is less traditional, she is eventually viewed as
being untraditional. This being the case, when external forces like politics, stardom and globalisation influenced Tamil film narratives, affecting the presentation of the kata˜-na˜yaki, indirectly causing a transformation in her portrayal, audiences were and are not reluctant to accept the shifting images. After all, is she not merely a kutai assuming the role of the kata˜-na˜yaki?
Notes
1 Scholarly literature on women in Indian film is largely confined to a study of Hindi films. See the works of Lalitha Gopalan (2002) in Vasudevan (2002); Jain and Rai (2002); Prabhu (2001); Virdi (1998); Chatterji (1998); Gokulsing and Dissanayake (1998); Maithili Rao in Vasudev (1995); Kumar (1995); and Leela Rao (1989) for a comprehensive understanding of this topic. Though centred on women in Hindi films, these sources are useful in gaining an overall under standing of women in Tamil cinema too. A discussion on the theme of female representation in Tamil cinema is often embedded in larger topics. See for instance C S Lakshmi (1990), Pandian (1992) and Dickey (1993a).
2 Sita’s popularity among the Tamils can be attributed to Kampa Ramayanam, the Tamil version of the original Ramayana. More importantly, folk theatre and later Tamil films based on this epic i.e. Ramayanam (1932), Sampoorna Ramayanam (1958) and Lava Kusa (1963) assisted in popularising the heroine among the masses. Given the popularity of the Sita narrative, in this chapter, I limit myself to discussion of Kannaki and Vasuki.
3 This text has been adapted to film at two different points in the history of Tamil cinema; in 1942 as Kannaki and in 1964 as Poompukar. The dialogue for the latter film was penned by DMK leader M. Karunanidhi. Kannaki’s popularity among the Tamil masses can be attributed to the efforts of Dravidian politicians, who in an attempt to mark a distinction between the Dravidian South and the Aryan North made reference to ancient Tamil texts like Cilappatika˜ram. In this chapter, I refer to Parthasarathy’s (1993) translation.
4 There seems to be no authoritative book on this story; only a modern Tamil play by Ma. Vaittuaivan, which according to the writer, is based on Tiruvalluvar’s literary treatise the Tirukkural. A film titled Tiruvalluvar was released in 1941. In addition, the Dravidian movement, in its efforts to highlight the antiquity of the Tamil language in contrast to Sanskrit, a language that was viewed as being representative of the Aryan North, has constantly promoted Tirukkural as the important text belonging to the Tamils.
5 The examples in this section refer to married women. However, the concept of karpu is also extended to include unmarried females. Such women uphold chas tity by ensuring that their virginity remains intact.
6 An unmarried woman is required to remain a virgin and protect her chastity so that she presents herself as a pleasurable subject to her husband once she is married. In the film Utirippookkal (1979), the male protagonist is presented as an anti hero. Wanting to take revenge on his sister in law who is about to marry a man of her choice, he disrobes her and tells her that it is enough punishment for her that he has seen her in the nude, a right that only a husband possesses. 7 Tamil literature of the Cakam period refers to early classical Tamil literature that
consists of eight anthologies of lyrics, ten long poems and a work of grammar and poetics called Tolka˜ppiyam. Here, women are depicted as being courageous. See Zvelebil (1973) and Ramanujam (1985) for detailed discussion on this topic. 8 The term ta˜ikkulam literally means ‘community of mothers’ as expressed by
9 Refer to Claudia Preckel in Damsteegt (2003), Ranjani Mazumdar in Vasudevan (2000) and Fareeduddin Kazmi in Nandy (1998) for a detailed analysis of this phenomenon.
10 The term putumaippen, which literally means New Woman, refers to an imagined female constructed by the nineteenth century Tamil poet Subramania Bharati. 11 Kuntalake˜si is one of the five popular Tamil epics. The rest are Cilappatika˜ram,
Manime˜kalai, Civakacinta˜mani and Valaiya˜pati. In Kuntalake˜si, the heroine kills her husband when he attempts to murder her.
12 The list of Tamil film actresses is much longer but for the present purpose I limit myself to a few names. When speaking of popularity of actresses, it is interesting to note that in the 1980s, enthusiastic fans constructed a temple for actress Khushboo, despite her Muslim origins.
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