by I.V. Mahasenan in his blog, May 12, 2025
[translated into English from the original Tamil by Google Translate with corrections by the Editor.]
The Tamilaham (Tamil Nadu) and Eelam-Tamil relationship is essential to the existence of Tamil national politics. Since the Sri Lankan and Indian governments have interpreted the rise of Tamil nationalism as a separatist ideology, they are vigilant in maintaining the gap between the two territories as a gap between the people. Contemporary events and the expectations of the governments have been partially successful. The gap between Tamil-Eelam and Tamilaham people groups has increased. There is an environment where the Tamil language conversation of the Eelam Tamils is called ‘Sinhala Tamil’ by the youth of Tamil Nadu. In the past, the first voice of opposition and the death cry against the oppression of Sri Lankan chauvinism on the Eelam Tamils could be found from Tamil Nadu. However, in contemporary times, the conditions that are seen in Tamil Nadu in parallel with the Eelam Tamils and South Lanka are also observed. In this, the poverty of art and literature is also a major influencing factor. This article has been created to search for the position of the Eelam Tamils in South Indian cinema.
The inspiration for this article was the recently released South Indian film ‘Tourist Family’, which has ensured the success of families, and the dialogues that take place in it. Starring famous South Indian actors Sasikumar and Simran, the film has been written and directed by young director Abhishan Jeevindh. The main story of the film emphasizes ‘love and appreciation’. The field for this has been moved to focus on the Eelam Tamil refugee-Tamil people. The director should be praised for moving the story in a way that attracts people to the Eelam Tamil language. There is a flaw in the absorption of Eelam Tamil stories by South Indian cinema that it cannot attract Tamil Nadu fans due to the difference in Eelam Tamil language style, and therefore cannot be commercially successful. Director Abhishan has corrected this in the story creation of ‘Tourist Family.’ The film has made the story of Sri Lankan refugees full of pain and thought through politics with laughter. The film has completely pulled the audience into the screen. Apart from the fact that the story is appealing to the writer of this article as an Eelam Tamil, the public posts on social media also have a straightforward opinion.
It would not be appropriate to tell the story of the film in full. The story begins with Das (Sasikumar), his wife Vasanthi (Simran), and two sons (Mithun Jaishankar, Kamlesh) from Valvettithurai, who are made economic refugees due to the economic downturn in Sri Lanka and escape to Rameswaram by boat. With the help of Vasanthi’s brother (Yogi Babu), Das’s family settles in a residential area in Chennai and starts a new life. Although they initially hide their Eelam Tamil identity from the street people, they eventually start living as Eelam Tamil refugees. At the time the Das family arrives in Rameswaram, the police are searching for Das’s family in connection with a bomb blast that took place there. In this, the story moves on to how the Das family, with the identity of Eelam Tamil refugees, become friends with the street people and are eventually protected from the suspicion of the police. In the meantime, the director not only talks about the problems that Eelam refugees face politically through the high-ranking officials of the government machinery in Tamil Nadu, but also shows how love is shared between Eelam Tamils and the people of Tamil Nadu.
The emergence of such stories centered on Eelam Tamils in South Indian cinema does not simply end the politics of Eelam Tamils with the screenplay. Stories about Eelam Tamils are also brought up for discussion in the program-related conversations about the film. In particular, director Samuthirakani, speaking at a ‘Tourist Family’ event, mentioned the story of Eelam Tamils that he had experienced. “A month ago, when I went to a program in Tirupathur near Madurai, about ten to fifteen people came. They said, ‘It’s been 35 years, brother, we all came here, but we are still inside the fence. We haven’t received proper recognition. You also speak for us, brother.” After that, when I inquired about the connection, I found that there were many places in Tamil Nadu. We call it our motherland. We call this our motherland. But even in a distant country, freedom is given. People get a life. They live a happy life. But, we don’t get that in our country. It was a great pain,” Samuthirakani had mentioned. The program of the film ‘Tourist Family’ created the platform for director Samuthirakani to express his experience and concerns regarding the situation of refugees in Tamil Nadu. Those who love and follow Samuthirakani will seek out at least a little bit about the difficult lives of Eelam Tamil refugees after this event. This is essential.
Similarly, the protagonist Sasikumar has recorded the difficulty in telling the story of Eelam Tamils, especially the history of Eelam Tamils’ rights struggle through film, in another ‘Tourist Family’ event. At a media briefing related to the film ‘Tourist Family,’ a journalist asked, ‘You have stated that the family (refugees) comes from a village called Valvettithurai. Everyone knows how historically important that Valvettithurai is. Do you think that Tamil cinema has properly recorded the pain and suffering of these Eelam Tamils? We are blocked from posting anything on Facebook or social media. We cannot put our names, we cannot put our photos, and there is no opportunity for that. What do you think about that?’ He asked me. Sasikumar, who responded, ‘You can’t post, you can’t add anything. If you block the writing on Facebook, if we take a picture, we will cut the scenes. That is not possible. We can only take the story in a gentle way through films like this. If we are very firm and say the things you say very strongly, it will only be censored by the censor board. Only if it changes can we take it,’ he had told me. This explained the risks involved in recording the suffering and heroic history of the Eelam Tamils in a South Indian film epic. It is noticeable that a few scenes have been censored by the censor board in the movie ‘Tourist Family,’ which has a gentle approach. In particular, in the preview of the film, there were scenes like the protagonist looking at a tiger-doll. However, those scenes could not be seen in the final version of the film. It has been censored. There are situations where the Indian censor board does not allow even a tiger doll in the Eelam Tamil story!
While there is no wholistic portrayal of Eelam Tamils, as Sasikumar mentioned, it is healthy for South Indian cinema to absorb Eelam Tamil stories in such a gentle way and bring them to the people. This is the primary tool to keep Tamil Nadu-Eelam Tamil relations alive. Not only in films but also in events centered around it, Eelam Tamils are becoming a topic of conversation and discussion in Tamil Nadu theaters. This can be observed in the conversations centered around the film ‘Tourist Family.’ Eelam Tamils should also be concerned about promoting such stories. Stories that belittle the struggle of Eelam Tamils are released in Indian cinema without any censorship. Tamil nationalists have been condemning it. By welcoming our stories in parallel with condemning what is against us, the South Indian cinema world will create an opportunity for the Eelam Tamil umbilical cord relationship to be absorbed by many more stories. Through this, we can protect the Eelam Tamil umbilical cord relationship for the new generation of Tamil Nadu.
Eelam Tamil political historian M. Thirunavukkarasu often emphasizes the need to approach Tamil Nadu properly through the real situations by placing it in the geographical-cultural-historical context intertwined with Eelam Tamils. It is clear that a person’s political life is determined by his circumstances and backgrounds. In that sense, according to the logical and realistic situations based on geographical location, Tamil Nadu is the nest of Eelam Tamils. At the same time, it cannot be ignored that the soil where Eelam Tamils live is the cornerstone or Corner Stone of India. But there are huge problems among the Eelam Tamils, both on the Indian government side and on the Indian side, in understanding the logical working system of these two and their practical meaning. A recent South Indian Tamil film has also recorded this geopolitical significance. ‘The Last World War,’ produced, directed and acted by Hiphop Tamil Aadi, is a story about the corner stone or foundation stone of India, and the failure to protect it will lead to the security of Tamil Nadu being threatened by the Sri Lankan army.
Therefore, it is welcome that the story of Eelam Tamils like ‘Tourist Family’ has been created in a way that can be commercially successful. Tamils around the world will celebrate this and create the inspiration and environment for making such films in the future. In particular, we, Eelam Tamils, are obliged to praise the director of ‘Tourist Family, ‘Abhishan, for taking the suffering of Eelam Tamils in a new approach in his first film as a young director. Furthermore, it is necessary to welcome Eelam Tamil stories like ‘Tourist Family,’ as well as films that integrate Eelam Tamil politics into the story, like Hiphop Tamil’s ‘Last World War’ films. This will also protect the nest of the Eelam Tamils. Similarly, Tamil Nadu will also be protected through the existence of the cornerstone.