AARAM THAMPURAN – THE ARCHETYPAL CELEBRATION OF UPPER-CASTE HEGEMONY

Films are an important form of mass communication in India today. Apart from being a mode of entertainment, films also shape the ideology in the mind of viewers because cinema is an ideological apparatus by nature of its very seamlessness. The audience does not see how the cinema creates ideology it invisibly renders and naturalizes it. This Paper tries to understand the celebration of upper caste hegemony and the way in which this is subliminally diffused into the society through popular Malayalam cinema “aaramthampuran". The paper deconstructs the cinema to understand the role of Brahmin hero with fair skin complexion, Kshatriya villain, glorification of caste hypocrisy in the field of Carnatic music, the condition of a Brahmin with dark skin complexion and portrayal of Muslims and Christians in the cinema.