21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
A Dalit life, translated by a Dalit voice
Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, Malayalam cinema's history credited MK Kamalam as the first woman to have played the role of a protagonist. Kamalam had debuted in Balan (1938), the first Malayalam talkie. But 10 years before Balan released in theatres, Vigathakumaran, a silent film directed by JC Daniel, premiered in Thiruvananthapuram's Capitol tent; starring PK Rosy — a Dalit woman — in the lead role.
But Rosy's legacy was cast aside due to her caste identity.
At the premiere in Capitol tent, stones were hurled at the screen by the audiences who couldn't accept Rosy playing the role of an upper caste Nair woman. The violence followed Rosy home, as dominant caste men attempted to harass her and had set her thatched hut on fire. She was then forced to flee Kerala and seek refuge in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where she spent the next sixty years of her life, away from the public eye.
This casteist history of Malayalam cinema was compiled by Kunnukuzhy S Mani, over 50 years of his journalistic career, and was published as a book titled PK Rosy Malayala Cinimayude Amma in 2019. Thirunangai Press LLP released this book in Tamil on May 16, in Chennai, titled PK Rosy Malayala Cinimavin Thai, translated by James Mark Peter.
