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The field of cinema has been a strong place for Dalits to challenge dominant views that existed in history. P A Ranjith, in his film Thangalaan brings out forgotten history of Kolar Gold Field in full circle. Perspectives from which this film is made are in the eyes of Dalit people whose work and sacrifice have been mostly ignored in official accounts. Related to it the present paper examines the cinematic strategies, social justice and symbolism in theoretical lenses of Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak. These concepts reveal the representation and repression of oppressed people in negotiating the identity of colonised and colonial power. Applying qualitative textual analysis, this research paper argues that Thangalaan foregrounds indigenous perspective and reimage neglected histories through narrative strategies, cinematic technique and symbolism. This paper shows the interconnections of postcolonial aspects to caste, colonial, labour exploitation and identity formation connected to exploited people.
Dr Venkatesha P. “Symbolism, Social Justice and Cinematic Technique in Thangalaan: A Theoretical Study.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 4, August 2026, pp. 1110-1121. DOI, https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n4.68.
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