Title: Showing Compassion and Suggesting Peace in <i>Karunamayudu</i>, an Indian Jesus Film
Abstract: ��� At the heart of this essay is a discussion of Karunamayudu (Telugu for ‘Man of Compassion’; 1978), one of India’s best-known Jesus films. The central claim being made here is that in addition to representing the story of Jesus’ life, this movie portrayed Jesus’ compassion as a solution to conflict that was widely accessible to many viewers and particularly pertinent during one of India’s most turbulent decades. My argument is based on two complementary observations. First, the cries for peace expressed in the film’s narrative resonate with the events and conditions contemporary to its production and release. Second, by showing Jesus’ responses to situations that could be understood as allusions to contemporary conflicts, the film demonstrated a way of peace that would have resonated with the ideals of most religious communities in South India. By emphasizing Jesus’ compassion in the course of retelling his story, Karunamayudu suggested a path to peace in troubled times. 1 SYNOPSIS AND PRODUCTION HISTORY 2 Like most of the better-known Western movies of Jesus’ life, Karunamayudu (1978) is a fairly standard collation of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. It is woven together by his encounters with five other main characters: Barabbas (Thagyaraju), Judas, Mary Magdalene, the disciple John and a blind man named Malachi (Chandra Mohan). In one way or another, and at various stages in the narrative, each is won over by the compassion of Jesus, played by Vijay Chander. Barabbas, Judas and their band of zealots are waging guerilla warfare on Rome and meet with Jesus to forge a strategic alliance. Their impressions of him, however, lead them in different directions. Mary Magdalene finds forgiveness for her life of impropriety and John’s hope for a messiah is fulfilled. His blind friend,
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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