Why Pa. Ranjith’s ‘Thangalaan’ is about rewriting and reclaiming Dalit history

Tamizh Prabha, the screenplay and dialogue writer of ‘Thangalaan,’ and historian Stalin Rajangam weigh in on how the Vikram-starrer will be Pa. Ranjith’s attempt to go further back and reclaim the history of Dalits, and give them agency in history yet again

The assertive and outspoken filmmaker Pa. Ranjith’s latest, Thangalaan, is one of the most awaited films; not just because it features a galaxy of stars including Vikram, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Daniel Caltagirone, Malavika Mohanan and others, but also because the film is based on the often-unheard and unexplored history of how the Dalits of Tamil Nadu mined and created the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) with their bare hands and sheer will.

Having mostly focused on contemporary recent history in films such as Madras, Kabali, Kaala and Sarpatta Parambarai, Thangalaan is Pa. Ranjith’s attempt to go further back and reclaim the history of Dalits, and give them agency in history yet again.

In an interview with The Hindu, the screenplay and dialogue writer of Thangalaan and Sarpatta Parambarai, Thamizh Prabha, explains the fundamental thought behind writing a film which talks about how the Dalit community contributed to the creation of Kolar Gold Fields in present-day Karnataka.

“When someone asks us, who built the Taj Mahal or the Thanjavur Peruvudaiyar Koil, who do we remember? We remember King Shah Jahan and Raja Raja Chola. But in reality, it was built by poor and marginalised people,” he says, and continues in the same vein about the history of KGF.

He says, “It is said that the later Cholas and Tipu Sultan have mined gold from KGF. But, once the East India Company took over, they asked Lt. John Warren to do a survey, who found minerals and submitted a report. Many years later, (a soldier) Michael Fitzgerald Lavelle started digging by mobilising a huge population before giving up... but he set everything up. Later on, Taylor and Sons established KGF where more than 10,500 feet was dug. But who created these mines? Why wasn’t their story told? That story is Thangalaan.”

This doesn’t mean, however, that Thamizh Prabha could attempt writing such a film without having an extensive understanding of the history of KGF and of Dalits in Tamil Nadu.

“During the filming of Natchathiram Nagargiradhu, he (Ranjith) told me that he wanted me to work on a film on KGF, and gave me a detailed first draft. There was a metaphorical element in its storytelling,” he explains. This prompted Thamizh Prabha to acquaint and familiarise himself with many resources, which included a novel and a number of non-fiction works on varied topics.