‘Kalapani’; Historical Fiction Reconstructing the Nationalistic Tendencies of the 1990s in India

Abstract

    The visual representations of creative work have the greatest ability to influence people and to propagate political agendas.Being the largest democratic country in the world, the major agenda of India’s nationalist principles is associated with the concept of ‘unity in diversity’. Unfortunately the over influence of religious polarizations in the society stand as a threat to this policy of the democratic government. The need for a peace-making mediator to regulate the balance between different religions existing in the Indian society arises out of this kind of a situation.As a result, film has been chosen as the most powerful instrument to spread this propaganda of inclusive nationalism in the minds of people. It is also notable that the cultural stereotypes produced by these films influence a larger audience.The encapsulation of historical events polished with the fictional coat in a film recalls the romantic tendencies of the past to evoke pleasure in the minds of the audience just as the historical fictions. Kalapani is one such film which reminds the purgation of emotions by depicting the harsh realities of life from the past. The present study focuses upon how the film represents the propaganda of inclusive nationalism. The paper also tries to portray the film as narrating fictional story in the historical context.