Page 116 - Aesthetic Formations Media, religion, and the Sense

Tamil Mythological Cinema 101

from temple sculpture, oral recitation, song, microphones, gramophones,
loudspeakers, drama, painting, film, and dance. His informants commonly
explained the continuing popularity of these Hindu stories in new media
formats as their being “eternally new,” which Singer glossed as the moder-
nity of traditional religious practices in south India (152). In this respect
the religious origins of Tamil cinema was part of a broader encounter
between Hindu religious practices and a set of new media technologies
during the twentieth century. The practice of Hinduism in south India
easily embraced and adapted the introduction of modern media technol-
ogy in ways that enlarged their scope by including more people over a
4
larger territory and within a shorter time span. In this context we can see
the emergence of sound cinema during the 1930s as another and particu-
larly privileged new form of religious involvement, which produced new
ways of participating in Hindu practices in south India.
In choosing Hindu mythological stories early Tamil film producers
redeployed the familiar as a way of dealing with the uncertainties of the
new mass media. But mythological subjects offered an easy and safe way to
ensure a return on the considerable investment of making a film. It is clear
from early advertisements that religious themes were considered to be one
of Tamil cinema’s main attractions. Early Tamil producers explicitly con-
structed the new cinematic appeal of their sound films in religious terms
with film exhibitors also readily following their lead. Take the example of
Prahalada, a well-known Vaishnava Hindu story produced as a Tamil
talkie in 1933. The management at the Crown Theatre in Madras trium-
phantly announced the film’s premiere, “Puranas now transferred to the
Talkie Screen” and claimed that the film featured “Songs and Tunes that
will lift you to emotional heights and fill you with religious fervour” (The
Hindu, 18 November 1933). After the first successful week they raised the
religious stakes further by advertising that “No Hindu should miss this
sensational mythological picture that offers you something unique and
transcendental” (The Hindu, 25 November 1933).
This promotional practice singling out music as a vehicle of transcen-
dence was not about religious conversion or proselytization of nonbeliev-
ers, but was making a direct appeal to what south Indian exhibitors

considered to be the main selling point of the cinematic experience to
Hindu audiences. Like the earliest silent mythological films, early Tamil
mythologicals held out the promise of appealing to the widest possible
audiences and drawing new comers that might not otherwise have gone to
the cinema, such as orthodox Hindus, women, and families (Hughes
2006, 54). But unlike silent cinema, music added another important path
toward spiritual realization. There are many different Hindu practices
oriented toward turning one’s emotions toward god and salvation from