ilmmaker Mari Selvaraj’s rise in Tamil cinema as one of its top filmmakers from humble beginnings and his evolution as a master craftsman is a story by itself. It wouldn’t be a stretch to state that Mr. Selvaraj along with filmmaker Pa. Ranjith filled a yawning gap in Tamil cinema by ensuring that Dalit protagonists and Ambedkarite politics of emancipation formed the central core of their films, serving as an anathema to the persistent normalisation of violence and oppression by dominant castes in the name of valour and history in Tamil cinema.
It has been 13 years since filmmaker Pa. Ranjith burst onto the scene with Attakathi and seven years since Mari Selvaraj’s first film, Pariyerum Perumal, released in theatres to positive reviews and success at the box office, dispelling the notion that films about caste discrimination set in the deep south are akin to a spark in the powder keg. Yet, crucial differences between the two filmmakers haven’t been emphasised enough. Except for Attakathi, Mr. Ranjith largely shies away from making films with significant autobiographical elements while Mr. Selvaraj situates his autobiographical episodes in historical contexts, save for Maamannan.
Full Article at: The Hindu
