More on "Roja"

Author(s): Venkatesh Chakravarthy and M. S. S. Pandian

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 29, No. 11 (Mar. 12, 1994), pp. 642-644
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4400931 .
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DISCUSSION
More on Roja
Venkatesh Chakravarthy
M S S Pandian
TEJASWININLRANJANA's 'Integrating
Whose Nation? Tourists and Terrorists in
Roja '(EconomicandPolitical PWeekly,Tanu-
ary 15) is significant both in foregrounding
the problematic oeuvre of Manirathinam
andin addressinga series ofquestions wvhich
are importantth the context of the dominant
film-practiceof our times. These questions Rishi Kumar: He is not just an ordinary
relate to such issues as the constructionof
national identity, the linearisation of his-
tory, the reproduction of the suibject,the
disavowal of female subjectivity, the man-
ner in which the spectator, s/he, is written
into the discourse of the film and the vio-
lence of such a writing in erasing other
voices and blocking other narrativeswhich
are capable of telling a different story or
writing a different history.
Much as we agree that Roja signifies the
accomplishment of middle class desire as
arguedby Niranjana,we find it difficult to
agreeto its corollary,whichshe derivesfrom
this premise as well as otherelements in the
film, that this entails a rejectionof the state an arrogant Indian. He prefers to tran-
and its defeat. On the contrary,our argu-
ment is that the apparent inability of the
state in the film actuallymasks its silent and
powerful ability'and in that sense the ulti-
mate victors in the film are the state and the
Hindu-patriarchalculture with which the
desire of Rishi Kumar,the hero, coincides.
In our understanding,the entire narrativeof
the film is keyed to the disavowal of th,e
violence of the state and the proclivities of
female subjectivity. By such a disavowal,
the state is affirmedratherthan defeated. In
orderto achieve this, the text privileges the
fulfilment of Rishi Kumar's desire xvhile
negatingor confiningto the limbo the desire
off?oja, th' heroine, andthe 'terrorists'.All
this is accomplished by processes of con-
densation and displacement which intro-
duce syntagmaticerasuresandparadigmatic WasimKhan:He is a menacing 'terrorist'leader
silences in the field of desire of Rojaas well
as WasimKhanand Liaquat,the 'terrorists.
CONDENSATION
Let us first ,focus our attention on the
paradigmaticaxis. For the sake of brevity,
let us mainly concentrateon the condensa-
tion producedby charactertraits.Condensa-
tion is an imaginaryand non-logical fusioni
of often contradictiig elements of significa-
tion or it picks up its force from a cluisterof
signifying elements:
Roja:Initiallyshe is the siteof unlimited desire.
Sheis happyto be herself.Butshehas no
642
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choice in her own marriageand she can
be herself if and only if she attempts to
bringherhusbandback fromthe Kashmiri
'terrorists' by turning the world upside
down.
Eventually, much as she is not an
ordinary woman, she nevertheless as a
Hindu-Indian woman finds her happi-
ness and solace at the feet of her huisband.
anglicised middle class urban male and
who wants to bed a ruralwoman but one
who wishes to walk with her into the
institution of marriage. flie extends the
same warmth to the idealised older
women in the village. He is not an ordi-
nary technocrat who is ruthlessly pursu-
ing his career but a committed nationalist
and a symbol of sacrifice. He can
nonchalantly light his cigarette directly
from the fire burning on the stove and
with equal nonchalance he can throw
himself on the burning flag of Mother
India and partiallyburn himself in order
to keep her pure from undesirable ele-
ments. He is not an arrogantTamilianbut
scend regionalcharacteristicsbut remains
perfectly self-possessed within a rigid
nationalism. He has apparentlyno desire
for the proximity of the good-looking
sister of Liaquat, the 'terrorist', but then
he will displace this desire on to his wife
to sing 'Kadal Rojave...' He is essen-
tially non-violent but uses violence only
when it is the only way out. In this, he is
one with the projected state which cas-
trates what it considers unlawfuil. His
caste identity is that of the elite non-
brahminPillai but his only concern is the
diaspora of the Kashmiri Brahmin Pun-
dits. As far as the Kashmiri Muslims
are concerned, he is interested only in
reforming them but not in knowing
why they desire freedom. Above all he
can say JaiHindeffortlesslywitha broken
jaw.
who is violently cornered by the state;
yet remains unruffledas if untorturedby
the state throughout the film.
Liaquat: He is not a Tamilian but very much
like a Tamilian'because he studied BSc
Agricultureat Coimbatore and therefore
he can speak Tamil. He is essentially
violent but deeply religious. He is as hard
as a stone but soft enough to be trans-
formed. Hle is a committed Kashmiri
who will not stray from the path of his
desire or mission, but he is unpredictable
enouighto defeat himself by refusing to
exchange Rishi for Wasim Khan. He is
highly regionalistic but willing to get
reformed into a non-violent nationalist.
Economic and Political Weekly March 12, 194
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Initiallyhe is on the side of Pakistan,but
strangelyhe is not interestedin thecode
decipheredby Rishi for the state.
Liaqualt'ssister:Sheis thesisterof a 'terrorist',
but she cannotresistthe good looks of
Rislii Kumar.Because she is a woman
she is tender and not a terrorist.The
problemthereforeis not with Kashmiri
women,who haveto stillfunctionas the
site of desireof the nationalistmale,but
with only the Kashmirimen.
Royappa, the chief armtyofficer: Royappa is
very much like our erstwhileGeneral
Cariappa. He is ruthlesslyduty con-
sciousand alwaysin a hurryto fuilfilthe
requirementsof the state. Yet he finds
time to escort Rojaon her mission,be-
cauisebeneathhis starcheduniformhe is
butan affectionatehumanbeing.HIeis a
protectivefatherwho paradoxicallyrep-
resentsthe castratingstate.
Rislii's boss: Originallyhe is investedwiththe
missionto decipherthe crypticcode.But
he handsover the mantleto Rishi when
he suddenlyfalls ill so that Rishi can
henceforthact in the nameof the father
andexercisethe powerthatgoes withit.
He is nostalgic enough to delightfully
mentionhis village, but apparentlyhas
no senseof futureas he insiststhatRishi
takes Rojaalong to Kashmir.
The enemy:Initially,thereis a veil of secrecy
as we are not told whose crypticcode
Rishihas deciphered.We laterlearnthat
it is Pakistanas the brothersof the 'ter-
rorists' depart toward the mysterious
mountain.Whenthebrothersareshoton
the other side, the enemy becomes a
commonenemyof thestateas wellas the
'terrorists'.
The unioniminister: He is very busy with urgent
issuesof nationalimportance,buthe has
the timeandthe willingnessto breakthe
protocolto considerRoja'splea.
We have listed out these contradictory
elements of condensationmainly to indicate
the series of protective father figures con-
structed within the text and dramatically
j uxtaposedto themenacingenemy(Kashmiri
'terrorists'/Pakistan)suchthatthedisavowal
of state violence is aohieved in the film.
Before we elaborate tliis point, it is neces-
sary to take a look at displacement which
exists in a dialectical relationship to con-
densation.Displacement, as we pointedout
in the footnote, is the transfer of intensity
from one signifying element to another by
a series of coincidences. In orderto look for
displacementone has to look at transitions
and punctuations;which means looking at
how one shot is linked to another. For, it -is
in the very site of these links that paradig-
matic silenIces, evasions and erasures are
masked. Condensationof contradictingele-
ments do not always occur instantly, it is
displacement which facilitates the Iork of
condensation.Let us now move on to analyse
how the processes of condensationaiid dis-
placement affirm rather than negate the
success of the state in the film.
DISPLACEMENTS
The last title in the beginning of the film
is that of the author Manirathinam;as it
comes on, wvehear in the backgrotud a
distantprayer from a mosque in the sound-
track. Ihis is followed by the entry of a
menacing truck with its surveillance lights
in the middle of a pine forest and the film
cuts to Liaquat and his men in such a way
that the spectator is positioned in a sympa-
thetic manner towards them. The choice of
PankajKapoor and his appearanceadds to
such a sympathy. Then we see the army
menacingly moving forward. At this junc-
ture Wasim Khan steps out of a tent. hIis
very appearance, his being taller than the
othersand being bald-headedsans the head-
gear worn by others, distinguishes him as
dangerousand separate.hmnediately,there
is a cut to a chargingdog and in this we the
spectatorshave found an object to identify
Nvithand therefore let loose our aggression
on the subject pursued by the dog, Wasim
Khan. Very soon othersescape, but muchto
our satisfaction Wasim Khan is comered
andpluckedout ofhis world.Herethe image
freezes and on the frozen image of Wasim
Khan the news of his arrestis printed.One
cannothelp but recall in this contextthe oft-
repeated statement ot Jean 1ik: (Iodard that
the sign is the murder of the thing. Once
named like that Wasim Khan becomes as
docile as a lap dog. He is associated with a
sense of power only when he threateningly
protrudesoutside his teintor moves forward
menacingly from inside his grilled prison
cell to shout at Roja. In short, he is the
threateningson of Mother Indiawho xvants
to keep the virgin forest of Kashnmrto
himself Therefore, there is an aggressive
pleasure in nipping him in the bud. Given
the logic of the narrativewhat should have
followed immediately the arrest of Wasim
Khan is his tortureby the armyauthorities.
Instead, our attention is displaced to the
idyllic locale of the southermnostpart of
India and in the bargain the above-men-
tioned possibility is silenced. In exchange,
we are offered as a respite from the preced-
ing nightmarishsequence (and its cold blue
tones brokenonly by the yellow of the truck
lights), the red warm light of the sun andthe
body of Roja to gaze at in vast expanses
xvhere there ure no threateningpines but
only us in the auditoriumand Roja. On the
svlhole,the violence with which we wit-
nessed the action of the state in the begini-
ning is never repeated directly. As we have
enumerated in the list of condensations,
there are only a series of protective fathers
such as Royappa and the union minister
representing the state henceforth. Bultthe
Economic and Political Weekly March 12, 1994
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repressed castratingfatherdoes not vanish
and verymuchreturnseither in the figureof
the surveillingarmyorin the soundandlight
of the menacing truckswhen Roja goes to
visit Wasunu Khan.Hereouridentificationis
so intensely displacedonto Roja that we do
not see the unnaturality of a prison house
standingin the centreof a mountainousarea.
We only notice all this as pure things or as
ambient atmosphere;for, we are as threat-
ened by Wasim Khan as Roja is and there-
fore we fail to see what it really signifies.
As for our initial encounter with
Roja-apart fromthe voyeurisminherentin
the field ofdesireunleashedbythesong-the
song itself positions her desire in the realm
of unlimitedpotentiality.But such potenti-
ality is graduallydeniedor silenced as she is
trappedin the gaze of Rishi Kumar in the
very next scene to which our attention is
displaced. After that occurrence,the film
postpones what such a trappingpromises
andtakes us on a varietyof detoursfromthe
object of that look and graduallypushes the
aforementioned potentiality to the back-
ground.Thatis, we are no longerinterested
in the enigmathatherdesirepresentedall by
itself but only in the new enigma which is
whetherherdesirewill coincide with thatof
Rishi. Theirweddingseems to promisethis.
Because Roja has not yet reconciledherself
to such a sudden turn of events, the eroti-
cism of theirpromisedcouplingis displaced
onto the eroticism of the villagers in the
song that follows. Once in the city, their
differences are reconciled; but then duty
calls andthey leave forKashmir.Therethey
are separatedand can only fantasise about
each other until the closure of the film.
Before discussingthis closure,we need to
tnderscore the crucial displacementwhich
clinches the narrativein favourof the state
andRishi Kumar.Much as Rojahas entered
the institution of marriage;Rishi Kumar's
very absence makes all her power return
with full force. Finally she is able to put
enoughpressureson the state to yield to her
desire to exchange Wasini Khan,for Rishi
Kumar. In this, her desire coincides with
Liaquatand his men who have kidnapped
Rishi Kumarprimarilyforsuchanexchange.
Ilowever, as Roja, Royappa and Wasim
Khanreachthe bridgewherethe exchangeis
supposed to take place, we see over their
shouldersand onithe otherend of the bridge
the Marutivan ot Liaquatdrivingdown in a
frenziedspeed andas it takes a curvesome-
thing unexpectedhappens.A man runs out
to the centre of the bridge, throws Rishi
Kumar's clothes and takes off in a similar
fashion. In the resultingcommotionof Roja
and Royappa running towards what has
been dropped,we arenot given the optionto
thinkwlhythe terroristshave acted in a self-
defeating manner. We seem to treat this
occurrencewith the samefrivolousnesswith
whlichthe narrativetreats it: afterall terror-
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
ists are unpredictable elements and one
canniottell what they are capable of. On
the contrary, if the filmiiended here with
the exchange taking place, then certainly
the state will be defeated and Roja and the
terroristswill succeed with Rishi Kumar's
own enigma of transforming Liaquat be-.
ing confinied to the limbo without any
possibility for his ensuing heroism reach-
ing a climatic closure. lIere, the clothes
thrown on the bridge create the crucial
displacement and all that is necessary. As
Roja picks them up, clutches them closer
to her bosom our fear mounts along with
hers. We begin to doubt VvhetherRishi has
been assassinated which seems to leave
the promised end unfulfilled or postpones
it with a degree of suspense. However, we
are soon reassured as Rishi Kumar es-
capes with the help of Liaquat's sister and
knocks every other member of the gang
down in his miraculous and dramatic es-
cape until he encounters Liaquat in the
bushes. But Liaquat is also tamed by the
pep talk of Rishi which has all the power
of a mantra; and as a mark of respect
Liaquat lets his gun limply down and
allows Rishi to go. As Rishi walks towards
Roja, the army moves in the direction in
which Liaquat left. Now, this is displaced
to another image in which, for no reason,
Roja falls at the feet of Rishi and with that
act she is fully transformed into a middle
class wife. As for Royappa, the army
officer, he is now fully relaxed as he is
sure that his men will get Liaquatand that
they can continue to keep'Wasim Khan in
custody. Therefore, seated as he is firmly
on the wall, he beams a confident and
paternal smile towards the couple. Rishi
lifts Roja in the air and clasps her close to
his body and-.withthat the film reaches its
orgasmic closure.
STATE AND PATRIARCHY
In short, the flm opens like a nightmare
but ends like a wet dream. But whose
nightmare and whose wet dreait? What
we need to emphasise here is that Roja's
phefiomenal eff6rt (unlike' that of Rishi
Kumar) proves to be ultimately fruitless;
strangely because, for no apparent reason
or cause, Liaquat fails to exchange Rishi
Kumar for Wasim Khan. It is the other
woman whose desire works in favour of
R'ishiKumar that is instrumental in mak-
ing his escape possible, along with- lir
own bravado;and last but not theleast, the
transformationof Liaquat who in that act
of transformation is reduced to an
unchallenging double of Rishi Kumar.The
other woman's desire is equated in the
film xvith that of the so-called beauty of
Kashmir which can now be deferred as a
promise for the future tourist. As far as the
desire of Liaquat is concemned,it is really
643
 in doldrums. Not onily has he lost his
nmission,but his ideology as well, which
is, however, not fully articulated in the
film except as an ideology of violenice. SAMEEKSHATRUST BOOKS
(We are never told or Liaquat is niever
allowvedto say within the filmiiwlhyhe and Selections of Artides from Economic and Political Weekly
his men desire azadi or freedonm.'I'This is a
crucial enigma which is silenced in the General Editor: Ashok Mitra
film.) Therefore, the consequieniceof the
nightmare is shared by Wasim Khaii,
Liaquat and Roja whose desires, if ful-
filled, xvouldhave meant the subversion of
Pauperising Agriculture
the state (in the case of Wasim Khan and
Liaquat) as well as patriarchy (in the case
Studies in AgrarianChange and
of Roja).
Indeed, it is the other side of this overlap
Demographic Structure
between state and patriarchy whiclhis the by N Krishnaji
fulfilment of the Hindu middle class male
desire signified in the film by the restora-
tion of the nuclear family. This is exactly Contents:
why the film privileges the discourse of Wages of Agricultural Iabour-Wheat Price Movements-Interregional
Rishi Kumarover the discourses of others. Disparities in Per Capita Production and Productivity of FoodgrAins-
In short, the film perceives the threat to
the state as a threat to the Hindui-middle- Agricultural Price Policy and Indian Foodgrain Economy-Demand Con-
class-nuclear-family. With the threat to strint: Role of Foodgran Prices and Income Inequality-Agrarian Relations
the family resolved at the closure of the and Left Movement in KerAla-Poverty and Frility: Theory and Evidence-
film, the threat to the state vanishes. In Agrarian Structure and Family Formation-Family Size, Levels of Living and
tlail context, it is pertinent to recall Differntial Mortality: Some Paradoxes-Poverty and Sex Ratio: Data and
Foucault's observation that state appara-
tus like the army and the police are only Speculations-land and labour: Demographic Factor-Population and
the termini of a power which is in actuality Agricultural Growth: Interregional Variations
localised in units like the family. There- pp viii + 259 Rs 240
fore, power restored to the family is the
return of power to the state. This crucial
displacement of the state onto the family
is what sanitises the state in the film as a
urotective father while masking -its real
violent face. Poverty and Income Distribution
Edited by
Note
* Conidensationand displacement are concepts
K S Krisbwamy
formulatedby Freudin his analysis of dreams,
according to whom the dream-work has to While there has been, over the years, a perceptible incrcase in per capita
disguise its real contents. In order to deceive income and expenditure and possibly some decline in the incidence of
the ever alert eye of the censoring mecha- poverty in India, what still remains is massive and of a kind that is not
nism, it either fulses contradictory elements
of signification together (condensation) or remedied quickly or smoothly. Even with radical policies, the shifts in in-
else displaces the intensity of one significa- come and occupational structures to mak a scrious dent on it will ta more
tion onto an entirely different or opposite than the rest of this century. In the welter of recent cxchanges between the
signifilcation (displacement). Condensation
and displacement create absolute coinci- government and the opposition as well as between planners and market ad-
dences and identifications. They operate not vocates on the strtegy of growth, these issues, have been largely obfuscated.
just at t!:euincoiiscious level or in dreamsbut It is therefore more than ever necessary today to recognise the magnitude
also in conlsciouIsfantasies, slips ofthe tonguie,
jokes and paraphrases. Primarily, they are of the problem and the inadequacy of the measures adopted so far to deal
imaginary modes of signification and are with it.
therefore non-logical and non-differential.
That is, they blend one signifying element pp viii + 420 Rs 240
with another,without any rhyme or reason
and in this process mnaskor make differences
seamless. Jacques Lacan developed this in- Avalable from
sight further when he equated condensation
to the paradigmnatic axis and displacementto OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
the synitagmaticaxis. The paradigmatic axis
refersto all that is available in the reservoirof Bombay Delhi Calcutta Madras
language, culture and the rudimentsspecific
to a craft lik-efilm-making. The syntagmatic
axis refers to the temporal sequen1ceof im1-
ages and sound, transitionsand punctuations.

644 Economic and Political Weekly March 12, 1994

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