Mrigayaa - Filming the Santhals

The tribal population in India like tribal population elsewhere has remained
marginalised. Much like tribal people elsewhere, the tribal population in India,
remained removed from settled populations and urbanised cultures. They have
maintained their own cultures and traditions, and preserved them over centuries
and millennia. Their cultures have a distinctly different worldview from the
settled populations; marked by a distinct way of looking at nature and the
spiritual world. Over the years, they have made minimum use of technology in
their lives and continue a lifestyle largely revolving around basic sustenance and
their cultural traditions. In India, they are referred to as the 'Adivasis', and
comprise a large ethnic minority.
Even though the Constitution of India has mandated an 8% reservation for
'Scheduled Tribes', the Adivasi community in India has been unable to fully
represent their needs and demands in the state structure. One of their key
complaints has been that they have paid a large price for development, by giving
up their home and habitat to projects like mining for example, but have not
received an adequate benefit of this development. The Naxalite-Maoist
insurgency in India is a manifestation of this complaint and the disillusionment of
many sections of tribal population from the Indian state. The Naxalite movement
is one of the many such uprisings and rebellions against the existing state
structure, mounted by the tribal communities of India over hundreds of years;
predating Independence. One such pre-Independence tribal uprising was the
Santal Hool in 1855-56, led by the Santhal people in present-day Jharkhand,
against the British rule and Zamindari system. This rebellion inspired the movie
Mrigayaa, by Mrinal Sen, and produced by K. Rajeshwara Rao.
The film was based on Shikar, a short story by Oriya writer Bhagbati Charan
Panigrahi. The movie is set in the 1930s when the Indian Independence
movement is actively demanding the end of the British Rule in India. The film has
a backdrop of a fictional tribal rebellion which is inspired from the Santhal
Rebellion of the 1850s which was violently crushed by the British. The tale
describes the lives of a tribal community who lead a tough life in a small village.
The villagers suffer at the hands of the moneylenders and the police informers,
compounded by the fact that the animals ruin their harvest. A new British
Administrator is posted here, who also enjoys hunting. He befriends Ghinua, a
native tribal who is also an exceptional archer. Ghinua and the Administrator
strike a deal, where Ghinua will get a reward every time he gets a "big game".
The story then moves on to, Shoplu, a revolutionary, who returns to the village to
meet his mother. He is chased by the police, who only stop when they notice that
the whole village has come to Shoplu's defence. There is a robbery, and a
policeman is killed in it. The police blame Shoplu and put a reward on his head. A
police informer within the villagers, decided to kill Shoplu and take the reward.
Shoplu's death provokes anger. Meanwhile, a moneylender abducts Ghinua's
wife, Dungri. In order to save her, Ghinua kills the moneylender. After this, he

happily goes to the administrator to bring him his game. However, the
administrator has Ghinua hung on the charge of murder. Till his death, Ghinua
wonders why one act is rewarded while the same act by another person is
punished.
The movie evokes tribal imagery in the context of the brutal British attitude
towards it. The British government's approach towards the Adivasi population
was that of hostility, based on the idea that they had come to 'civilise' Indians.
Independent India's attitude towards the descendants of the same Adivasi
groups is only minutely different. The movie tells us about the lives of the tribal
people in their villages and how they interact with their surroundings, their
means of sustenance, etc. It also tells us about their very basic understanding of
human society and its laws and rules. One stark example of this is when Ghinua
thinks that killing of anyone who wrongs you is legal, because the informer kills
Shoplu. Another very subtle and important message that the movie portrays is
that, even though it is set in 1930s it basically is based in the context of a
rebellion that took place in 1850s. The difference in tribal surroundings between
the two time periods is minute. While the whole world was experiencing the fruits
of Industrialisation, capitalism, consumerism, etc, the tribal population remained
where it was. They were kept removed from any kind of progress.
The movie Mrigayaa, tries to give us an insight into tribal lives, while creating a
commercial drama that pandered to the Bollywood audience of the 1970s. For
the deep messages that are portrayed in the film, one has to be aware of the
conditions that the Adivasis of India have lived in, and continue to live in.