Film News
Marie Selvaraj World of Imagery
Mari uses many images such as black and white and black and white frames to interact with the audience. These are the days of hope and survival among the underclass, consisting of Veeran and Mamannan, the piglet sprouting colorful wings and flying.
Mari Selvaraj’s paintings are rich in symbolism, metaphor and imagery (symbolism, metaphor, decoration). Ever since his first film Pariyer and Perumal, he has been establishing the uniqueness of his films.
Similar elements can be seen in all three of his films. Pariyer, Perumal, Karnan and Mamannan all stand out because of those factors. Mari uses many images such as animals, black and white and black and white frames to communicate her ideas to the audience.
On the one hand, Ratnavel’s dogs are getting ready for the competition when the film Mamannan starts. On the other hand Ativeeran is shown tending to his pigs. Ratnavel’s dogs are old but live in two-storied houses, while Ativira’s pigs live in mud. Mari depicts the dog here as a sign of the upper class and the black pig as a sign of the lower classes.
There are many scenes of the hero holding a black piglet in the film. In Ativeeran’s painting we see a pig and a dog about to fight each other.
The piglet drawn by the hero, flying with colorful wings and the piglet escaping from the herd of pigs massacred by a pack of dogs are the days of hope and survival among the underlings consisting of Veeran and Mamannan.
Mari has used similar symbolisms in the upper caste, which now includes Ratnavela. Parallel to the scene of Ratnavel bowing at the feet of the leader of the village group and walking humiliatingly into the room is the scene where he rides over the hill on a horse. The injury to Ratnavel’s inner ego is evident here.
The symbolism given by Mari to the hero of Karnan, which came immediately before, is the donkey. Along with untying the donkey’s legs, the hero was also untying the knots on him. A hawk preying on a chick also indicates an upper class society that takes pleasure in supporting the lower classes.
The image of Karnan itself is the symbolism of Mahabharata which focuses on Karna. Kunti’s son Karna is brought up by Sutra. From there he became a member of the Thana caste. Mari Selvaraj’s Karnan is also out cast. Mari gave the names Draupadi, Duryodhana and Abhimanyu to the kings and queens of Mahabharata to the natives and associates of Karna. Why not name the outcasts after kings. The underdog hero who comes with a sword on a horse, which is a symbol of nobility, says otherwise.
Throughout Periyar and Perumal, the hero is accompanied by his dead dog. The iconic climax scene from the first film alone is enough to mark the director as Maari.
A white flower that falls between the glass of milk tea that the heroine’s father drinks and the glass of black tea that the hero drinks can be a start. Through that climax, Marie may have shared her hope for a world where no one is excluded because of color or caste.
Black-and-white, black-and-white frames, and animal symbolism set Mari films apart from the rest.
Content Highlight: symbolisms in mari selvaraj movies
Amrita T. Suresh
DoolNews Sub Editor. Graduated in English Literature and PG in Journalism.
2023-07-03 15:00:00
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