M. Joanshia who thought the oppari was only a funeral lament, changed her opinion when she read a news item saying how people sang the oppari to protest the transfer of a government official. So intrigued was she that she embarked on a project to make a documentary on this art form and its cultural implications. Says Joanshia: “I am a Christian from Nagapattinam. Our funerals are solemn occasions and we mourn in silence. Initially, I hesitated about filming people wailing. But, when I saw them performing from dawn to dusk praising the valour of the deceased, I was convinced to shoot.”
Oppari was just one of the 11 documentaries released recently as part of the Journalism and Science Communication course of Madurai Kamaraj University. The others were Raanuva Gramam (millitary village) by M. Alexander, Madurai Malli by C. Manuselvi, Vaigaiyin Marana Olam by T. J. Maha Utshavi, Maduraiyil Samanam by M. Nagalakshmi, Karagattam by P. Navanammal, Manathurukkum Arakkattalai by T. Pandithurai, Naadodigalin Urimaiyum Manitha Urimaiye by D. Prashanth, Nattu Kozhi vs Broiler Kozhi by K. Kathirsha, Maduriayil Or Iravu by P. Rajangam and Thalayatti Bommai by F. Shymala Devi.
The students were asked to document people, society or cultural events they have seen over the years. That turned out to be the key and most of them tried to capture the cultural implications of the issue they chose to cover. M. Alexander made Raanuva Gramam . And he justifies why serving army is mandatory in the villages of Meenakshipuram, Chokkalingampuram near Rajapalayam and Perumalthevan Patti near Srivlliputtur. “If a family has to gain people’s respect at least one member from the family should be enlisted in the armed forces. My brother M. Vijaya Ramar is now attempting to join the army. Even before independence, our grandfathers served in the Indian National Army,” he says.
For D. Prashanth who made Naadodigalin Urimaiyum Manitha Urimaiye records the deplorable conditions of the nomads belonging to the Kattunayakkan community residing in Sakkimangalam. “They are struggling to make both ends meet. They are fighting to get a community certificate for their children so that they can admit them in schools. It is pathetic,” he says.
“The current bunch of students researched before they started their work. When they came up with their ideas and a tentative script, I was pleasantly surprised by their involvement,” says J. Balasubramaniam, Assistant Professor and Head, Department of Journalism Science Communication. Copies of the documentaries have been sent to all visual communication departments.
The film on the Kattunayakan community has been handed over to the Tamil Nadu Empowerment of Nomads and Tribes NGO for use as propaganda material.
Students speak:
J. Rajangam: “The thoonga nagaram concept will cease to exist if the law enforcing agencies continue to curb activities during night.”
M. Joanshia: “Oppari as a tool to protest is something very new and can be very effective also.”
