The life story of PK Rosy is a telling predicament of Malayalam cinema’s complicated relationship with caste. PK Rosy played the role of an upper caste Nair woman Sarojini in the movie which incensed many upper caste men who allegedly burnt down her house and drove her out of Kerala, for daring to be a Dalit Malayalam actor. Following up on Kani’s reactions, there has also been a petition to rename the Best Actress Award as the P K Rosy Award. While Malayalam cinema has been lauded for artistic sensibilities and its new wave progressive film making in the recent past, what often goes unspoken in the Malayalam film industry is a dismissal of caste as a theme in film making and also conversations about its deep entrenchment in the industry. It was indeed heartening that after 50 years of the institution of the State awards, an actor has dared to speak about caste in Malayali cinema using the platform of Kerala State Awards. Recently Kani Kusurti who won the award for the Kerala State Best Actress dedicated her award to Malayalam film industry’s first heroine – P K Rosy, the Dalit Malayalam actor “ who was driven away from the industry for playing the role of an upper caste woman.” In the interview given to The Hindu, she also spoke about the long-standing narrative of caste and colour in the Malayalam film industry.
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