67. Abdul Samad K

Abstract 67
Abdul Samad. K                                                                                      

Archetypes restructured; the creation of dissent in Pathmarajan’s movies.

Abstract

Presenting rebellious spirits have been a great fascination for all creative talents. All such dissenting voices were sidelined by the all-pleasing cultural productions which succeeded in manufacturing consent. In the tinsel world, technology and its inherent politics have made dissenting traditions a thing of the past. The failure is on two levels; at one hand technological body has replaced the representation of dissent and on the other hand the methods of dissent have failed to please the theatergoers. Main stream cultural productions have exhaustively used all sources of human traditions. With advanced technology, it merges with the subconscious images of the individual and the collective. Any analysis of contemporary films will help us to see that all forms of hegemony have been rooted in our individual/collective unconscious and to get out of it is to ‘destruct the visual pleasure’.  How can any art form survive without the pleasure it is supposed to impart? Can we leave all our traditional patterns at the mercy of the dominating images which manufacture consent?

This paper is an attempt to see how Pathmarajan, popular middle stream film maker of Kerala, has succeeded in restructuring the subconscious images and developed a method of  dissent which was innovative and imparted pleasure to the theatergoers. Based on a few selected works including Njan Gandarvan, Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal etc… the paper elaborates on how the dissenting voices found its place in the film without destructing visual pleasure. It is remarkable to note that he has extensively used all forms traditional archetypal patterns of the collective unconscious in his work but has refused to be subdued by the medium and its over hegemonic discourses.