Situating Injustice in the Frame of Dalit Politics: A Case of Democracy in Nayattu

Abstract

It might not be amiss to observe that, Nayattu, the Malayalam movie by filmmaker Martin Prakkat rides its last lap on the breathtaking suspense of a suspension of justice set in the backdrop of Indian electoral politics. Such suspense or suspension is hardly unanticipated in the writings of Jacques Derrida for whom the reasoning of democracy is of ‘a certain reason to come, as democracy to come’. Rather than eager anticipation ready to bear fruit, the reasoning of democracy is the contrary. It is the impossibility of ever bearing fruit which is portrayed through the executive’s insensitivity and domineeringness towards ordinary man’s justice. Several other characteristics also make the movie a worthwhile analysis in this frame. It is the story of the sheer inadequacy of traditional democratic institutions in fulfilling their role—three police officers who are wrongly accused need to run to the valley/hill outside the walls of the ‘city’ in search of a place of refuge that is never to be found. However, it is the portrayal of Dalits both as the mob and as the victimized that contributes to the tempo of the movie.