Dark days of Indian democracy: a historical study on the portrayal, censorship, and representation of ‘Indian emergency’ in Malayalam cinema
| dc.contributor.author | Raj, Sony Jalarajan | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-05-14T20:53:34Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-05-14T20:53:34Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | India, the biggest democracy in the world, once experienced the worst oppression in its history when the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, on 25 June 1975. Civil liberties and personal freedom were curbed, using the constitutional powers under Article 352 of the Indian Constitution. Creativity faced the biggest casualty during the Emergency until it was withdrawn on 21 March 1977. The Southern state of Kerala being the most politically conscious and creatively corrective population, its own cinema in the Malayalam language was ineffective in its immediate response to the event. However, traces of resistance can be found in this crisis, and they are often demonstrated in tactical ways to escape the omnipotence of a censorship system. This article argues that Malayalam cinema categorically avoided representing the historical authenticity of the Emergency, on the contrary, it adopted a strategic disavowal to depoliticize it by manipulating narratives that do not identify themselves as a constructive form of resistance. Such a discourse is a new form of apolitical resistance that continues to be a characteristic of modern states sustained by political order and cultural hegemony. The spatial and temporal dimensionality of this recalcitrance was reflected in the Emergency cinema of Malayalam as ideological, personalized, and allegorical texts of narrative modes. This paper historically explores these modes as well as the role, responsibility, and status of Malayalam cinema during the political crisis of the Emergency. | |
| dc.description.uri | https://macewan.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01MACEWAN_INST/d1nmsu/cdi_informaworld_taylorfrancis_310_1080_14746689_2024_2429032 | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Raj, S. J. (2025). Dark days of Indian democracy: A historical study on the portrayal, censorship, and representation of “Indian emergency” in Malayalam cinema. South Asian Popular Culture, 22(2), 245–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/14746689.2024.2429032 | |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1080/14746689.2024.2429032 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14078/3899 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | All Rights Reserved | |
| dc.subject | emergency | |
| dc.subject | resistance | |
| dc.subject | nationalism | |
| dc.subject | censorship | |
| dc.subject | Malayalam cinema | |
| dc.subject | political cinema | |
| dc.title | Dark days of Indian democracy: a historical study on the portrayal, censorship, and representation of ‘Indian emergency’ in Malayalam cinema | en |
| dc.type | Article |