Viduthalai, which translates to liberation, is a film that in its most raw and visceral form, embodies the essence of emancipation. From the very first frame, where a hammer is struck to forge a sickle wielded by a group of landless Dalit peasants plotting to kill a landlord who imprisoned and raped a Dalit woman, the film sets the tone for its exploration of class struggle. In a subsequent scene, one of the martyrs, Karrupan, shouts before his death, “This bravery is the anger that my fathers and grandfathers have preserved for generations to dismantle your feudal pride”. This is the heart of Viduthalai—the resonance of centuries of hardship, anger, and the relentless quest of the masses for liberation.
Viduthalai-1, loosely based on Thunaivan, a short story written by the so-called “enlightened” author Jeyamohan, critiques the police and the Marxist-Leninist rebels in a satirical tone. Vetri Maaran, however, adapted it into a more detailed exploration of the Bramhinical fascist state at its most naked and barbaric self, showing the gruesome human rights violations, like the Operation Ajantha in the 1980s and Vachathi violence of 1992. The audience, however, interpreted it mainly as a critique of the state apparatus due to the minimal screen time devoted to the revolutionary forces in the film.
Viduthalai-2, in contrast, shifts focus to the revolutionary forces. The film explores the evolution of the Marxist-Leninist movement in post-1947 Tamil Nadu, its interactions with Tamil nationalist elements, and the subsequent repression it faced from bourgeois-feudal state forces. The characters in Viduthalai-2 are inspired from reality. The protagonist is Perumal Vaathiyar, loosely based on the real-life revolutionary Pulavar Kaliaperumal. Kaliaperumal was a Marxist-Leninist who was closely associated with Charu Majumdar and played a central role in the activities of the CPI(ML) in Tamil Nadu. His mentor, Comrade KK, is loosely based on the real-life figure B. Srinivas Rao. Rao was a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and fought against the brutal feudal regime and regressive practices. In the course of the movement Vaathiyar meets Mahalakshmi whose character is inspired by Manaloor Maniammai a proletarian feminist from CPI who renounced various feminine features such as saree and long hair. She cropped her hair, wore a sippa (shirt), and fought against farm slavery by mobilising the peasantry. In the film, Mahalakshmi translates Lenin’s “The Right of Nations to Self-Determination” in Tamil. T.A. is another revolutionary character inspired from the real-life Ponparappi Thamizharasan, an engineering student who left college during Charu Majumdar’s call of ‘go to the villages’. The film depicts ideological differences with respect to CPI’s revisionist stance on the question of armed revolution and Tamil nationalism causing the formation of the militant Makkal Padai under the leadership of Vaathiyar and other comrades. The film also shows Vaathiyar critically appraising their past mistakes.
The film also correctly captures the conflicts within the police by showing a corrupt OC, an idealist pro-people constable, and a Dalit sub-inspector thrown together to facilitate the loot of natural resources in the area. As a cherry on top, one of the constables narrates the story of his parents, who lost the fight against corporate land acquisition. This struggle led him to join the police in an attempt to “clean the system from within”. This serves as a powerful metaphor, or rather a “wake-up call,” for the thousands of UPSC aspirants who fantasize about “changing the system from the inside,” being oblivious to the oppression by these very institutions.
Viduthalai with its staunch support for a revolutionary change through armed struggle, stands out as a part of people’s progressive culture. The film has expectedly faced criticism from mainstream media, besides being heavily censored that altered key dialogues, such as modifying “The people can create their own weapons wherever they stand, according to their needs” by adding “That weapon can also be a vote,” echoing the chief secretary’s dialogue from the first part, “We must confine the people’s movement within the ambit of the constitution.” Funnily, all the hammer and sickle symbols were blurred out in the film showing the discomfort of the current regime with the barest idea of radical change.
