Kantara is an Adivasi culture-based movie that has been translated and portrayed in a subaltern Hindu caste way.
The recent Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara’ has stimulated a discussion about the appropriation of Adivasi cultures into the Hindu fold. It is based on the ‘Bhoota Kola’ animist form of worship that comes from an Adivasi culture which is practised in coastal Karnataka.
As shown in the movie, ‘Bhoota Kola’ is a ritual performance practised once a year. In this ritual, the local deities and spirits are worshipped. A man who performs this ritual acts as a messenger who answers peoples’ questions on behalf of God. The performer is respected by the community as he speaks to God.
Generally, such cultures are seen in various Adivasi communities across the country. It varies from one region to another or one community to another. However, the characteristics of the cultures are found to be similar in some ways to each other. The way of practising the cultures is probably similar across the Adivasi communities, which are based on the worship of nature (Jal Jungle Jamin), agriculture, animals, Kuldevi (deities), and so on.
Similarly, the Adivasi culture has been portrayed in this Kantara movie in terms of the food, the dance, the celebration of festivals, etc. In addition to it, the relationship between the landlord, the forest department, and the community has been shown in a way that exactly can be seen in the Adivasi regions where the former Dikkus (landlords) still exploit them in certain ways and the conflicts between the forest department and the Adivasi communities that we see everywhere in the same regions.
The way the director has tried to portray the ‘Bhoota Kola’ culture through the Hinduism lens is nothing but the subaltern Hindu culture which is again different from the Vedic and Brahminical cultures. The culture in India is divided into Vedic culture and Subaltern Culture. The Vedic culture is practiced by Brahmins and other upper castes, while on the other side the Subaltern culture is celebrated by backward communities including Dalits and Adivasi.
Though Adivasi is a subaltern category or tribe, I would rather not refer to Adivasis as a Subaltern caste, since it is a separate category altogether which has no connection to caste or Varna. It has its own concept of culture and belief system which is different from the Vedic culture and Subaltern Hindu caste.
Thus, I separate Adivasi as a subaltern group from caste subaltern communities on the basis of culture and not marginalization.
Although one would argue by saying that Adivasis culture is a part of Hinduism since it shares many similar characteristics, the Adivasis’ practices of culture and way of worship are not the same. Though the subaltern caste Hindu culture, especially those who engage in farming and forest is also rooted in nature as they also worship their own Kuldevi (local deities), it is influenced by the Vedic Brahminical culture in some ways. Though one can differentiate the subaltern caste culture from Vedic culture, it is difficult to isolate thoroughly.
In post-independence, through the process of Sanskritization, many Adivasi communities tried to imitate the Vedic culture, and many right-wing cultural organizations tried to influence them in a certain way and hence many of them embraced the Hindu sects. Based on this, one could claim that they are equally part of Hinduism and its culture, however, Adivasi cultural roots would still differentiate it from the rest of the mainstream religious culture and subaltern Hindu culture. The three cultures, i.e. Vedic culture, Subaltern caste culture, and Adivasi culture exist separately and there is hardly an interaction between them. Even though some mainstream cultures, including western culture and Christian culture, tried to impose their own one on Adivasis, they have fought them and found their own ways to conserve it. Therefore, Kantara however, has shown the Adivasi culture in the form of ‘Bhoota Kola’ is not indeed. The director misconceptualized the Adivasi culture and presented it in the subaltern Hindu culture way.
In the movie, the way the relationship between the landlord and Adivasis is described is based on caste untouchability. It is shown that the characters who belong to the Adivasi community are not allowed to enter the landlord’s house. They used to sit outside and discuss the stuff. They cannot share dining with upper-caste people. When the leading character that is Shiva (Rishab Shetty) entered the landlord’s house, he forcefully took food with him (landlord) to the same dining table, when he left the house, it was sanctified by sprinkling Gau Mutra (cow urine). Such a concept would not be found in Adivasi regions. There are various forms of discrimination against Adivasis, especially by taking away their resources and exploiting them, the landlord’s exploitative relations with Adivasi laborers, also there is ethnic discrimination happening against Adivasi by non-Adivasi, especially the upper caste in some regions.
However, it is difficult to say that these exploitations are really based on untouchability. One form of untouchability (not exact untouchability) probably would exist among Adivasi and non-Adivasi, but it is unjustified to portray Adivasis as untouchables in the Kanatara movie. Besides this, Panjurli, a spirit worshiped in Bhoota Kola, with the Hindu God Vishnu raises sparks the debate about how God Vishnu, the mainstream Hindu God of Hinduism, plays a role in local ritual. As The Quint has reported “to understand why equating Panjurli, a spirit worshiped in Bhoota Kola, with the Hindu God Vishnu has led to a controversy on the appropriation of Adivasi culture in films that depict Hinduism” (The Quint, 2022). The Quint also further investigated and “spoke to Tulu culture experts, and found that depicting Bhoota Kola as a Hindu religious practice need not necessarily be accurate, culturally” (The Quint, 2022).
Based on these arguments, one could see that literally, the mainstream gods have no role in the traditional local rituals of Adivasis. In fact, they have a direct connection with Prakriti (nature). The Adivasis have identified a particularly holy place where their deities are in the form of holy stone, or sometimes. They worship the tree itself in the forest or on hills. At the end of the movie, the song was played in Sanskrit, this also indicates the culture and songs the director has tried to portray are not part of any subaltern group, including backwards and Dalits. The Adivasis have their own languages and dialects and what they speak and sing local spiritual songs are in their own dialects. The Sanskrit language has never been part of any Adivasi community yet.
So based on the above arguments, I argue here that the Kantara movie has been directed and portrayed in a more subaltern caste way rather than from the Adivasis’ cultural point of view. The subaltern castes are part of Varna and even though they have their own culture, somewhere, the influence of Vedic culture can be observed. As the movie has tried to portray all characters, and the story is told in a way that fits in the subaltern caste culture in some ways but not in Adivasis’ cultural ways.
Reference
The Quint, 2022: ‘No, Bhoota Kola Isn’t Part of Brahminic Hinduism’: Tulu Scholars on ‘Kantara’explained#read-more