Page 120 - Aesthetic Formations Media, religion, and the Sense

Tamil Mythological Cinema 105

new material that was not only performed on stage, but on political plat-
forms and during picketing as well as being printed in songs books, leaf-
lets, and even recorded on gramophone plates (Hughes 2003). Thus,
while the nationalist mytho-politics of silent mythological films clearly
informed early sound film productions, the strong political engagement
of Tamil musical drama was the greater influence on how Tamil cinema
incorporated political content. Theodore Baskaran (1981) has docu-
mented how almost all of the important political activist song writers
and actor/singers and from the Tamil stage brought their nationalist
agenda as they moved into Tamil cinema. With the emergence of talkie
films, songs became a privileged medium of conveying covert nationalist
political messages, which might not otherwise get past the regional film
censor board. The musical format of Tamil cinema provided the frame-
work for embedding nationalist political songs within mythological nar-
ratives. They worked like detachable set pieces that could be inserted in
any kind of mythological film regardless of the story. For example, in the
first Tamil film, Kalidas, the well-known stage artist T. P. Rajalakshmi
sang two nationalist songs not directly related to the story, urging the
need for unity among Indians and the other praising the charka (spin-
7
ning wheel), a nationalist symbol popularized by Gandhi. Both songs
had been originally written for the stage by the nationalist song-writer/
poet Madurai Baskara Das and were already widely circulated and pop-
ular (Baskaran 1996).
The nationalist themes interwoven into these songs were also always
motivated by more than politics. There was also a financial calculation
involved. For example, an anonymous (1931) author writing in a Madras
newspaper article about how best to market Indian talkie films during the
first year their production suggested that the cinema should follow the
example of the stage in exploiting nationalist themes.

He [the Indian film producer] should take a cue from the present condi-
tions of the stage such as it is. Whenever there is a vernacular play put on
the boards with a national theme, interspersed with national songs and dia-
logues, the theatre is fully packed. So if any film story whether silent or

sound is screened with a “national” setting without giving away the show by
high sounding titles, with popular songs there is no reason why such a film
may not bring a good return for the producer.

The widespread involvement and publicity surrounding Civil Disobedience
movement had mobilized an extremely popular constituency for national-
ist themed entertainment, which both Tamil drama and cinema were able
to call upon.