CINEMATIC RESISTANCE AND CASTE POLITICS IN KARNAN A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF MARI SELVARAJ’S NARRATIVE

Abstract
This qualitative study critically analyses Karnan, directed by Mari Selvaraj, as a significant cinematic articulation of caste oppression and democratic resistance in contemporary India. The film foregrounds the lived realities of a marginalized community systematically denied basic civic rights, using the absence of public infrastructure as a metaphor for entrenched structural exclusion. Employing qualitative textual analysis and interpretative thematic analysis, the study examines how the narrative constructs a counter-public sphere through symbolic imagery, spatial politics, and character development. The protagonist, portrayed by Dhanush, is positioned as a subaltern agent whose resistance disrupts hegemonic caste hierarchies and exposes the coercive apparatus of the state. The film’s representation of institutional violence, particularly policing, underscores the complicity of state mechanisms in perpetuating social inequalities. The findings suggest that Karnan functions as a form of cinematic resistance that recuperates suppressed histories and amplifies marginalized voices. While the film reconfigures the public sphere by enabling alternative forms of political expression, it simultaneously interrogates the ethical implications of violent resistance within democratic frameworks. The study concludes that Karnan advances contemporary political cinema by integrating aesthetic strategies with critical social commentary.