Often rebuked for not being able to even look up at the sky, comes the time when Maamannan gave wings for pigs to fly up higher, from being stereotypical imagery of slur to being a symbol of equality
To look up at the sky and dream about the wishes of the heart is one of the moments of solace that we can call our own. Chided for its living conditions, and carrying an unnecessary stigma, one species that is often rebuked for not having the ability to look up at the vast expanses of the sky is the pig.
It will be a fool’s errand to try negating the disdainful treatment meted out to the pigs, which are looked at as a symbol of aversion and disgust. In fact, Yogi Babu, one of the premier comedians in Tamil cinema, shot to fame with a comedy that called him a ‘panni moonji vaayan’ (pig-faced person). Even in Priyadarshan’s short from Navarasa where Yogi Babu plays the lead, someone refers to him as “avan paaka panni mari irupaan, aana naai dhan (he looks like a pig, but is a dog). When years of conditioning have made sections of people consider pigs as a derogatory term, there is a strong battle to change the connotations and reinvent the imagery surrounding the animal, and its direct relation to caste. Most recently, we saw such a move in Mari Selvaraj’s Maamannan.
The film’s protagonist Adhiveeran (Udhayanidhi Stalin) rears pigs for his day job, and we see him painting a picture of a piglet with wings. A pig that does not need to just look up at the sky, but can fly towards it. “I wanted to showcase pigs in my frame for a long time. I have often questioned why pigs and their rearers are looked down upon by society,” says director Mari Selvaraj, who is known for using animals as a metaphor. However, the Karnan filmmaker asserts that the road to this wasn’t that easy. “In fact, there have been many who asked me not to show pigs on screen. That made me think about why we see the animal kingdom with a certain hierarchy. We domesticate pigs and yet we have converted them into a symbol of insult. The animal, which is seen as the most inferior, is a pig and I want to make it my talking point. Be it Dhanush sir or Udhay sir, they gladly accepted the portrayal and gave me the space to show my thoughts.”
We have come a long way from Engalukkum Kaalam Varum (2001) where Kovai Sarala played a pig-rearer for laughs, and was degraded for being from that profession. In Maamannan, the hero plays one. Another recent film that made a strong point like Maamannan was director Thamizh’s Seththumaan. The film spoke about food politics and the placement of pork in this ecosystem. Often shamed and tabooed (not to forget the preferential treatment for white pig pork over black ones), the usage of the meat became pertinent for Thamizh who directed the film. “There are instances where people might want to eat and are tempted by it. They might not be the ones to cook it though. This was the crux and the sole reason why I made the film. Pork might be consumed at large, but it’s a rarity to know about who rears it, and how it is cooked and prepared. That was what was important for me.”
With animals being an integral part of human lives, it is interesting to note how just like the latter, animals too are stereotyped. Say a cow is considered pure and gentle, and dogs are shown as a symbol of loyalty. On the contrary, pigs are associated with dirt, grime, and disgust because of their perceived living conditions and the food they consume. Writer Stalin Rajangam mentions how slurs representing pigs are commonly made on people who are stout, dark, and short. However, he feels that with the voices of filmmakers like Ranjith and Mari becoming stronger and louder, the animals from their subaltern lifestyle are brought into prominence. “If Ranjith has normalised beef, Mari has shown pigs as part of their lives,” says Stalin, adding, “Pigs are mostly reared by those who are in the lower rungs of the caste ladder. Even though in certain places, a few intermediary caste people also grow them, pigs are fairly associated with the oppressed. Pig is always considered unholy.”
Another fine example of a film becoming the voice for the voiceless is Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, where the adolescent protagonist Jabya comes from a pig-rearing family. In the climax, we see him understanding how his position in the caste ladder always hung by a thread just like a captured and helpless pig was tied. “Pigs have become a form of casteist slur, mostly pointed towards Dalit people. So the types of portrayal that change and challenge these notions are welcome. Fandry definitely changed it,” says writer Shalin Maria Lawrence as she poignantly fosters for a time where pigs are also shown in the hands of non-Dalit people instead of continuing the Dalit-pig reiteration.
Marathi documentary filmmaker and researcher at TISS Mumbai, Somnath Waghmare, who has helmed the upcoming Chaitybhumi, which revolves around the resting place of BR Ambedkar, says, “Indian cinema has been full of pride stories of historically privileged caste group. There is a stark difference between films made by them and those of Ambedkarite filmmakers, who show the reality of society through their films. Animals too are divided by caste. While Mari’s films deal more with rural caste equations, Ranjith’s films deal with semi-urban or urban Dalit society. Historically, Indian cinema shows Dalit as always victims, but you see the difference in these filmmakers’ films where they show assertions and struggles of the community.”
And to multifold this change, directors like Mari Selvaraj and Thamizh say that with the ecosystem slowly changing, showing symbols like pigs represents a much larger meaning. “Only when filmmakers and actors get involved in creating characters that break such symbolism, can it change the whole reflection surrounding the stigmatisation, and mass psychology for the better,” says Thamizh. Echoing this sentiment, Mari reiterates how it is up to the creators to show these aspects of society.
Do the ideas behind such films really have that much of an impact on society, one might ask? But as Ambedkar himself said, “An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering.” Even if one person throws their weight behind such ideas and passes on the message to people around them, the wheels of change will move forward. There will soon come a time when more films like Fandry, Maamannan, and Sethuthmaan come out, and give pigs and their associated imagery their well-deserved respect. And at that time, pigs will indeed fly.