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Film Studies
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DISCUSSION
Initiallyhe is on the side of Pakistan,but
More on Roja strangelyhe is not interestedin thecode
decipheredby Rishi for the state.
Venkatesh Chakravarthy Liaqualt'ssister:Sheis thesisterof a 'terrorist',
but she cannotresistthe good looks of
M S S Pandian Rislii Kumar.Because she is a woman
she is tender and not a terrorist.The
TEJASWININLRANJANA's 'Integrating choice in her own marriageand she can
problemthereforeis not with Kashmiri
Whose Nation? Tourists and Terrorists in be herself if and only if she attempts to
women,who haveto stillfunctionas the
Roja '(EconomicandPolitical PWeekly,Tanu- bringherhusbandback fromthe Kashmiri
site of desireof the nationalistmale,but
ary 15) is significant both in foregrounding 'terrorists' by turning the world upside
down.
with only the Kashmirimen.
the problematic oeuvre of Manirathinam Eventually, much as she is not an
Royappa, the chief armtyofficer: Royappa is
andin addressinga series ofquestions wvhich ordinary woman, she nevertheless as a
very much like our erstwhileGeneral
Hindu-Indian woman finds her happi-
are importantth the context of the dominant Cariappa. He is ruthlesslyduty con-
ness and solace at the feet of her huisband.
film-practiceof our times. These questions Rishi Kumar: He is not just an ordinary sciousand alwaysin a hurryto fuilfilthe
relate to such issues as the constructionof anglicised middle class urban male and
requirementsof the state. Yet he finds
national identity, the linearisation of his- who wants to bed a ruralwoman but one
time to escort Rojaon her mission,be-
tory, the reproduction of the suibject,the who wishes to walk with her into the
cauisebeneathhis starcheduniformhe is
disavowal of female subjectivity, the man- institution of marriage. flie extends the
butan affectionatehumanbeing.HIeis a
protectivefatherwho paradoxicallyrep-
ner in which the spectator, s/he, is written same warmth to the idealised older
women in the village. He is not an ordi-
resentsthe castratingstate.
into the discourse of the film and the vio- Rislii's boss: Originallyhe is investedwiththe
lence of such a writing in erasing other nary technocrat who is ruthlessly pursu-
ing his career but a committed nationalist
missionto decipherthe crypticcode.But
voices and blocking other narrativeswhich he handsover the mantleto Rishi when
are capable of telling a different story or and a symbol of sacrifice. He can
he suddenlyfalls ill so that Rishi can
nonchalantly light his cigarette directly
writing a different history. henceforthact in the nameof the father
from the fire burning on the stove and
Much as we agree that Roja signifies the with equal nonchalance he can throw
andexercisethe powerthatgoes withit.
accomplishment of middle class desire as himself on the burning flag of Mother
He is nostalgic enough to delightfully
arguedby Niranjana,we find it difficult to India and partiallyburn himself in order
mentionhis village, but apparentlyhas
agreeto its corollary,whichshe derivesfrom to keep her pure from undesirable ele-
no senseof futureas he insiststhatRishi
this premise as well as otherelements in the ments. He is not an arrogantTamilianbut
takes Rojaalong to Kashmir.
film, that this entails a rejectionof the state an arrogant Indian. He prefers to tran-
The enemy:Initially,thereis a veil of secrecy
as we are not told whose crypticcode
and its defeat. On the contrary,our argu- scend regionalcharacteristicsbut remains
Rishihas deciphered.We laterlearnthat
ment is that the apparent inability of the perfectly self-possessed within a rigid
nationalism. He has apparentlyno desire
it is Pakistanas the brothersof the 'ter-
state in the film actuallymasks its silent and rorists' depart toward the mysterious
powerful ability'and in that sense the ulti- for the proximity of the good-looking
sister of Liaquat, the 'terrorist', but then mountain.Whenthebrothersareshoton
mate victors in the film are the state and the the other side, the enemy becomes a
he will displace this desire on to his wife
Hindu-patriarchalculture with which the to sing 'Kadal Rojave...' He is essen- commonenemyof thestateas wellas the
desire of Rishi Kumar,the hero, coincides. tially non-violent but uses violence only
'terrorists'.
In our understanding,the entire narrativeof The unioniminister: He is very busy with urgent
when it is the only way out. In this, he is
the film is keyed to the disavowal of th,e one with the projected state which cas-
issuesof nationalimportance,buthe has
violence of the state and the proclivities of trates what it considers unlawfuil. His
the timeandthe willingnessto breakthe
female subjectivity. By such a disavowal, caste identity is that of the elite non- protocolto considerRoja'splea.
the state is affirmedratherthan defeated. In brahminPillai but his only concern is the We have listed out these contradictory
orderto achieve this, the text privileges the diaspora of the Kashmiri Brahmin Pun- elements of condensationmainly to indicate
fulfilment of Rishi Kumar's desire xvhile dits. As far as the Kashmiri Muslims the series of protective father figures con-
negatingor confiningto the limbo the desire are concerned, he is interested only in structed within the text and dramatically
off?oja, th' heroine, andthe 'terrorists'.All reforming them but not in knowing
why they desire freedom. Above all he
j uxtaposedto themenacingenemy(Kashmiri
this is accomplished by processes of con- 'terrorists'/Pakistan)suchthatthedisavowal
can say JaiHindeffortlesslywitha broken
densation and displacement which intro- of state violence is aohieved in the film.
jaw.
duce syntagmaticerasuresandparadigmatic WasimKhan:He is a menacing 'terrorist'leader Before we elaborate tliis point, it is neces-
silences in the field of desire of Rojaas well who is violently cornered by the state; sary to take a look at displacement which
as WasimKhanand Liaquat,the 'terrorists. yet remains unruffledas if untorturedby exists in a dialectical relationship to con-
the state throughout the film. densation.Displacement, as we pointedout
CONDENSATION Liaquat: He is not a Tamilian but very much in the footnote, is the transfer of intensity
like a Tamilian'because he studied BSc from one signifying element to another by
Let us first ,focus our attention on the Agricultureat Coimbatore and therefore a series of coincidences. In orderto look for
paradigmaticaxis. For the sake of brevity, he can speak Tamil. He is essentially displacementone has to look at transitions
let us mainly concentrateon the condensa- violent but deeply religious. He is as hard
and punctuations;which means looking at
tion producedby charactertraits.Condensa- as a stone but soft enough to be trans-
how one shot is linked to another. For, it -is
tion is an imaginaryand non-logical fusioni formed. Hle is a committed Kashmiri
who will not stray from the path of his in the very site of these links that paradig-
of often contradictiig elements of significa- matic silenIces, evasions and erasures are
tion or it picks up its force from a cluisterof desire or mission, but he is unpredictable
enouighto defeat himself by refusing to masked. Condensationof contradictingele-
signifying elements: exchange Rishi for Wasim Khan. He is ments do not always occur instantly, it is
Roja:Initiallyshe is the siteof unlimited desire. highly regionalistic but willing to get displacement which facilitates the Iork of
Sheis happyto be herself.Butshehas no reformed into a non-violent nationalist. condensation.Let us now move on to analyse