Film Analysis Of The Movie Kadhal

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Recommended: Caste system representation in Indian cinema

Kadhal, a Tamil movie set in the contemporary South India about the “prevailing casteism" is a true reflection of the disparity between the two groups at the opposite ends of a hierarchical pyramid. The soul-stirring shift in the husband’s attitude in the climax towards the love of the protagonists is heart warming beyond belief. A sociologically nuanced understanding of the movie gives it a whole different perspective altogether. The husband is the pivot of the story for it is because of him that Kadhal is unlike any other “quintessential heterosexual romance of calf love, elopement and the subsequent consequences of the same”.

Our society is stratified on the basis of certain markers - caste, one’s ascribed status, class, one’s achieved …show more content…

Aishwarya’s is an influential family with control of land resource, the scenes at the puberty attainment celebration of how the guests eat meat, drink alcohol and the display of violence makes one fathom about the caste status of her family which is not typical of an upper caste rank. The business of her father again reinforces the same. Aishwarya’s family’s acquired cultural capital gives them the dominance of inquiry, respect and authority. By virtue of migrating up the economic ladder, they are accorded the same status and privileges as that of the upper caste rank. In the end when inquired about the caste status by the Uncle, Murugan replies he belongs to the “caste of humanity” and the uncle remarks that there is a differentiation between the humans, he insists on knowing whether he belongs to the rank of a lion, tiger or a dog. He is thrashed, abused and called a “low caste dog”.The scene is particularly very symbolic as the family brings the couple back to their home town where they have dominance and the use of violence to work out things in their favour. They make the girl throw away the “nuptial thread” the “symbol of marriage” and hence break the alliance between them. Th scene also depicts how Murugan isn’t considered a capable human worthy of marrying Aishwarya, for her father even remarks “How dare you aspire for my daughter?”. The visible barrier of caste and class separates the couple. Aishwarya’s family is considered superior in the social hierarchy and for the maintenance of the purity of the family they would stop at

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