The latest from the outspoken and outspoken filmmaker Pa. Ranjith, Thangallan, It is one of the most anticipated movies; not just because it has an ensemble cast of stars like Vikram, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Daniel Caltagirone, Malavika Mohanan and others, but also because the film is based on the often unheard and overlooked history of how Dalits from Tamil Nadu mined and built the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) with their bare hands and sheer willpower.
Mostly focused on contemporary recent history, with films such as Madras, Kabali, Kala And Sarpatta Parambarai, Thangallan This is Pa. Ranjith’s attempt to go further back and recover the history of Dalits, and give them a place in history once again.
In an interview the hinduScreenplay and Dialogue Writer Thangalan And Sarpatta ParambaraiTamil Prabha explains the basic idea behind writing a film on how the Dalit community contributed to the creation of Kolar Gold Fields in present-day Karnataka.
He says, “When someone asks us who built the Taj Mahal or the Thanjavur Peruvudaiyar Koil, who do we remember? We remember Raja Shah Jahan and Raja Raja Chola. But in reality, it was built by the poor and marginalised people,” and talks about the history of KGF in a similar fashion.
Tamizh Prabha, Pa. Ranjith and Vikram on the sets of ‘Thangalan’
He says, “It is said that the later Cholas and Tipu Sultan mined gold from KGF. But, when the East India Company took over, they asked Lieutenant John Warren to conduct a survey, who discovered the minerals and submitted a report. Many years later, (a soldier) Michael Fitzgerald Lavelle mobilised a large population and started digging before giving up… But he set everything up. Later, Taylor and Sons set up KGF, where more than 10,500 feet of mining was done. But who built these mines? Why is their story not told? That is the story Thangalan,
However, this does not mean that Tamil Prabha can attempt to write such a film without a comprehensive understanding of KGF and the history of Dalits in Tamil Nadu.
“During the filming Natchathiram NagargiradhuHe (Ranjith) told me he wanted me to work on a film on KGF, and gave me a detailed first draft. It had an allegorical element in its storytelling,” he explains. This prompted Tamil Prabha to reach out and familiarise itself with a number of resources, including a novel and several non-fiction works on various subjects.
“We read a lot of books about the people of KGF; a docu-novel called ‘Living Dangerously’ (by FE Penny) which is largely about the people of KGF. Thangalan Himself, several non-fiction books on folklore such as ‘Gopura Tharakolaigal’ (by A. Sivasubramaniam), ‘Kolayil Uditha Devangal’ (A. Sivasubramaniam), ‘Koil, Neelam, Sadhi’ (Po. Velsamy), ‘Velpari’ by author Su. Venkatesan…plus many more Kattukadhaigal“I read books on ‘Nattu Vaidyam’ and ‘Nattu Vaidyam’ books to prepare myself,” he said.
Tamil Prabha also visited KGF to understand the landscape and the people, and spoke to the last surviving descendants of those who worked in the gold fields that were closed in 2001.
He said, “When I visited KGF, I got a chance to see the entertainment club built for the British, houses built for the workers and underground tunnels which we could not go inside due to lack of oxygen.”
Vikram in a scene from ‘Thangalan’
Ask him if such a detailed knowledge of KGF’s history ever becomes a hindrance in crafting a narrative, and Tamil Prabha says, “I am not writing a documentary or article on history; I have the right to interpret history. For example, say there is a village where they follow the practice of serving tea in separate cups for you and me. I look at that social reality. But in my story, I will take the tea and throw it on his face,” he says.
He recalls that Kamal Haasan’s Oh Ram! and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds He fictionalised history and made a broad point about writing the past, quoting the words of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
“Fictional literature gives us this freedom. I read history to create the ‘reality’ (world) of fiction. Echoing the words of Dr Ambedkar, who said, ‘Fill the gaps in our history with social truths’. Can we say with certainty that several hundred years ago villages were divided into ‘ooru’ and ‘cheri’? I believe it because… if the situation is bad today, it must have been worse then,” he says.
Fiction, history and giving Dalits their freedom
One man who understands the complexities of history writing, particularly Dalit history, is writer and historian Stalin Rajangam, whose work focuses on early Dalit icons, Tamil cinema, and the Tamil Buddhist tradition.
If history can only be based on strong evidence-collection determined by experts, writing history can be a challenge for Dalits, who have been excluded from mainstream society for hundreds of years. Stalin asks, “Does this mean that Dalits are people who have no history?”
According to him, it is not that Dalit history alone is deprived of gathering concrete evidence.
“My argument is that all the documentary evidence presented to write history is on shaky grounds. Dalits never had the opportunity to turn their myths and stories into ‘history’. Imagination is a part of history writing and should not be considered untrue; it is intuition about what might have possibly happened in the past. In Dr BR Ambedkar’s ‘Who Were Untouchables’, many of his claims can be considered educated guesses, but they cannot be dismissed,” he tells us.
He said filmmaker Pa. Ranjith is a product of two phases of Dalit writing. “After the 90s, Dalit literature made its way into people’s consciousness for a decade. After that, non-fiction writing became more widespread, including magazines and journals run by Dalits in the past, non-fiction works written by leaders in the past, and documentary evidence about protests by Dalits across Tamil Nadu. This immediately had an impact in the intellectual sphere, which turned the tide towards Dalit history writing.”
“Until then, Dalit literature written by Bama, Sivagami and other poets mostly talked about the suffering, discrimination and challenges faced by Dalits in their everyday lives. But nonfiction texts in the 2000s told the truth; that the history of Dalits in Tamil Nadu was not just about their victimhood and that they also had an enviable history. For example, Iyothee Thass Pandithar wrote that Dalits had a great intellectual tradition and a Buddhist past,” says Stalin and claims, “Filmmaker Ranjith is a product of both these developments; he is influenced by both Dalit literature and nonfiction writings of the 90s, which showed that Dalits were not just victims.”
A scene from ‘Thangalan’
Thangalanwhich is a fictional take on history, would be a story that would take his career forward. He says, “However, since Ranjit believes in the annihilation of caste, history (in films) has to be carefully rewritten. The problem that arises while doing this – portraying history as it is – is that it will not appeal to Dalits, especially middle class Dalits. So, they fictionalise it, keeping history in the background, and focus on what should have happened in history.”
Stalin further said that Thangalan This book goes beyond presenting a straightforward history of how Dalits went to work due to poverty and lack of agency, and made KGF.
“A more complex understanding of history suggests that they may have gone for a reason, and not just as people who were ruled and enslaved. Traditional history may not concern itself with such questions (why and how), but filmmakers like Ranjith focus on why they may have gone to work in KGF, by fictionalising it.”
He concluded, “Ranjith fictionalises parts of history to give rights to Dalits. Dalit people are supposed to be depicted in KGF because they were very poor, they had no food, and the film shows sympathy towards their pitiable condition, but Ranjith wants to show us that Dalits lived a dignified life and they fought to maintain and reclaim it.”
