Scenes from various Malayalam movies
Mainstream Malayalam cinema mostly portrayed tribes or ‘Adivasis’ as objects of ridicule. The 1980s to 2000s was when Adivasis were used in the movies to induce laughter. It was only much later that Adivasi issues were explored to some extent. Shabin PK, a film scholar said that films misrepresent tribes.
“When we look at the movies of 80s and 90s, tribes are represented as cannibalistic people who dress up in a different way. Films often make fun of the way in which tribes communicate with each other.”
He further added that the cannibalistic stereotype was used by filmmakers throughout the 80s.
In the paper ‘Cultural minorities and the panoptic gaze: a study of the (mis)representation of ethnic minorities in Malayalam films’, film scholar RVM Divakaran says that films present Adivasis as people who lead a fun life without being aware of the complications of life. In some other movies, tribes are presented as people without hygiene, have extreme sexual desires, and live in poor conditions. He further added that tribes are always presented as people with dark skin and stunted height.
Movies by Priyadarshan have stuck to the above-mentioned stereotypes through films like Chithram (1988) where tribal customs and rituals are made fun of. In Thenmavin Kombathu (1994), tribal language was used to bring in a comical effect. Movies like Adharvam and Kattuchembakam overtly sexualized tribal women.
“Personally, when I first saw the film Bamboo Boys (2002) as a child, I was under the impression that all members of the tribal communities are big-time trouble. I was scared and thought of them with disdain until I grew up to gather a sense of how much that one film had destroyed my thought process and opinions about something,” said Veronica Paul, a media student.
“The idea that people belonging to tribal communities will have an exotic attire, lack sense of supposed civilization, all of it for a film and then portraying it in a way that is supposed to induce laughter, is highly problematic,” she further added.
Stereotypes Used in Bamboo Boys
Divakaran also added that certain other films used tribes at a crucial juncture in the movie, wherein they would rescue the dying hero using medicinal herbs and prayers. This was particularly seen in the movie, Yodha (1992) where the hero who loses his eyesight due to an accident is healed by tribes. The tribes are further shown to help the hero by training him in martial arts.
According to Shabin, the realistic approach to filmmaking adopted by filmmakers in the recent past has been reflected in the way they portray tribals. “In the film Photographer, director Ranjan Pramod has attempted to draw a decent picture about tribal life. Even in the film Red Wine, directed by Salam Bappu, the tribal life, and their activities were shown closer to reality.”
"Tribal communities were mainly used for the purpose of comedy in the films released in the 1990s," said Vrinda Nampoothiri, a clinical pharmacist and film geek. On similar lines with Shabin, she added that movies released in the 2000s like Urumi tried to give more prominence that gave the audience a taste of tribal lives."
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