State Power as an Instrument of Class Dominance: A Discourse Analysis on “Taanakkaran and Sirai”

Films have always been a medium to show the social injustice that occurs due to power dynamics and social inequality.Tamil cinema has produced many film stories related to police subjects especially related to high ranked police officials, fictional stories, real incidents and some are adapted from a few incidents.But the lower cadre officials face injustice and dominance not only because of the cadre but also because they belong to lower caste and minority groups.Their role and achievements are never brought to limelight through films or any other visual entertainment medium as like higher ranked police officers.Taanakkaran focuses on a dated practice of British rule which was purely based on power dynamics, while Sirai focuses on social inequality in law which provides an injustice to class.According to Swetha (2022) caste identity is more discussed in the Tamil cinema which impacts on the socio-political situations in Tamil Nadu.The two films "Taanakkaran and Sirai" are trying to give limelight to such cadre officials and also their role as major influence in the society as shown in major films for the higher cadre officials.In this research these two movies will be analysed using Fairclough's critical discourse analysis method.The research method adopted for this study is qualitative.The scenes, dialogues and social practices shown in the movie will be comparatively analyzed.