Page - 51 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

Validating Demons | 51www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 31–53 the hero’s qualities, and Bīrā (Rāvaṇa) is represented as a low-caste crimi- nal, the leader of oppressed people, and his kingdom as an underdeveloped forest. The ādivāsīs were ignored and are agents of violence, but they are also its victims. Because of poverty and exploitation, there is a parallel gov- ernment and war with the state. The film condemns police corruption and brutality in the hilly areas and villages near the forests where communist agendas, political movements, and powerful criminals have taken over. This reversal of strong significant characters such as Rāvaṇa serves to emphasize the worldview of the other. Amongst the multiplicity of interpretations of the Rāmāyaṇa, Ratnam demonstrates the relevance of the contemporary context for value judge- ments: his rendition favors the bandit and the perspective of Southerners, and it comments on conflicts in the ādivāsī communities. The character of Rāvaṇa is validated by showing goodwill towards others. Despite being an outlaw, he cares for people and is a sort of Robin Hood. The injustice his sister has experienced is amplified to justify his anger, and his love for Sītā is accentuated – two popular tropes in Southern Rāmāyaṇas. The policemen are portrayed as greedy for power, abusers of women, and cunning. In this strug- gle the police win, but without honor. The film thus constitutes a critique of those in power: they are not righteous, they just have the means. As it has been in the past, the Rāmāyaṇa remains today a key for understanding India. Bibliography Aklujkar, Vidyut, 2007, Family, Feminism, and Film in Making the Rāmāyaṇa, in: Pau- wels, Heidi (ed.), Indian Literature and Popular Cinema. Recasting the Classics, Lon- don / New York: Routledge, 42–53. Baskaran, S. Theodore, 1996, The Eye of the Serpent. An Introduction to Tamil Cinema, Madras: East and West Books. Basole, Amit, 2010, Subverting Our Epics. Mani Ratnam’s Retelling of the Ramayana, Economic and Political Weekly 45, 29, 25–26. Benjamin, Sonia, 2006, A Rose by Any Other Name. Exploring the Politics of Mani Ratnam’s Roja, Contemporary South Asia 15, 4, 423–435. Brockington, John, 1998, The Sanskrit Epics, Leiden: Brill. Brockington, John / Brockington, Mary, 2006, Rāma the Steadfast. An Early Form of the Rāmāyaṇa, London: Penguin. Devadas, Vijay / Velayutham, Selvaraj, 2008, Encounters with “India”: (Ethno-)Na- tionalism in Tamil Cinema, in: Velayutham, Selvaraj (ed.), Tamil Cinema. The Cul- tural Politics of India’s Other Film Industry, London: Routledge, 154–171. Dirks, Nicholas, 2001, Home and the Nation. Consuming Culture and Politics in Roja, in: Pinney, Christopher / Dwyer, Rachel (eds.), Pleasure and the Nation. The Histo-