Gangsterism among the Malaysian Indians: a study on Ethirkalam Movie

K. Silllalee

Abstract

The history of Malaysian Tamil movies began in 1968 with the short movie “Ratta Peei” by Mu. Bahruthin. Then, the first Malaysian full-length Tamil movie, “Naan Oru Malaysia” (I am a Malaysia) under the production and direction of Sugan Panjacharam, was released in 1991. Unfortunately, the film was unsuccessful, and its failure led to 13 years of drought in Malaysian Tamil movies. In the year 2005, the Malaysian Tamil film industry was revived again with the successful production of the movie “Pencil,” which inspired the local movie producers to produce a succession of local Tamil films like “Niiya Nana”, “Ethirkalam”, “Andal”, “Vikranth”, and “Manjari”, which were well-received by the local audience. The key to producing a successful film is to ensure that the film has a storyboard content reflecting society’s contemporary issues, which will make the film a historical and cultural asset of a society. “Ethirkalam” was one such movie that discusses the critical issue of gangsterism among Malaysian Indians. This article aims to discuss the portrayal of gangsterism in “Ethirkalam” and the message it wants to convey to the Malaysian youths. This is a qualitative research conducted based on hermeneutics approach.

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