The forgotten Indian actor who lost her legacy to caste oppression

At a time when ladies’s participation within the movie business was frowned upon, a younger lady dared to dream in another way.

In Nineteen Twenties pre-independence India, PK Rosy grew to become the primary feminine lead in Malayalam-language cinema, in what’s now the southern state of Kerala.

She starred in a film referred to as Vigathakumaran, or The Misplaced Baby, within the Nineteen Twenties. However as a substitute of being remembered as a pioneer, her story was buried – erased by caste discrimination and social backlash.

Rosy belonged to a lower-caste neighborhood and confronted intense criticism for portraying an upper-caste lady in Vigathakumaran.

Nearly 100 years later, there isn’t any surviving proof of Rosy’s position. The movie’s reel was destroyed and the forged and crew have all died.

Only some footage of the movie from a contested press release dated October 1930 survive, together with an unverified black-and-white picture popularised by native newspapers as Rosy’s solely portrait.

Even a Google Doodle celebrating her 120th birthday used an illustration just like the lady within the {photograph}. However Rosy’s nephew and others who’ve researched her life instructed the BBC that they might not conclusively say that it’s her within the image.

PK Rosy was born as Rajamma within the early 1900s within the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore, now Kerala.

She belonged to a household of grass cutters from the Pulaya neighborhood, a part of the Dalits, who’re on the backside of India’s harsh caste hierarchy and have been traditionally oppressed.

“Folks from the Pulaya neighborhood had been thought of slave labour and auctioned off with land,” says Malavika Binny, a professor of historical past at Kannur College.

“They had been thought of the ‘lowliest’. They had been flogged, raped, tied to bushes and set on hearth for any so-called transgressions,” she provides.

Regardless of the dire social challenges, Rosy selected to dream in another way.

She was supported by her uncle, who was a theatre artist himself, and together with his assist Rosy entered the sector of leisure.

“There are few obtainable info about Rosy’s life, however it’s identified that she was common for her performances in native performs,” says Vinu Abraham, the writer of The Misplaced Heroine, a novel based mostly on Rosy’s life.

Whereas her performing expertise earned admiration, it was uncommon for a Dalit lady to take up performing on the time.

“She was doubtless conscious of the truth that this was a brand new enviornment and making herself seen was necessary,” says Prof Binny.

She quickly grew to become a well known determine in native theatre circles and her expertise caught the attention of director JC Daniel, who was then trying to find a lead actor for his movie – a personality named Sarojini.

Daniel was conscious of Rosy’s caste identification and selected to forged her within the position.

“She was paid 5 rupees a day for 10 days of filming,” stated Mr Abraham. “This was a considerable sum of money within the Nineteen Twenties.”

On the day of the movie’s premiere, Rosy and her household had been barred from attending the screening.

They had been stopped as a result of they had been Dalits, Rosy’s nephew Biju Govindan says.

And so started a series of occasions that pushed Rosy out of the general public eye and her residence.

“The group that got here to look at the film had been provoked by two issues: Rosy enjoying an upper-caste lady and the hero choosing a flower from her hair and kissing it in a single scene,” stated Mr Abraham.

“They began throwing rocks on the display and chased Daniel away,” he added.

There are differing accounts of the extent of the harm to the theatre however what is evident is the toll the incident took on each Rosy and Daniel.

Daniel had spent some huge cash to ascertain a studio and collect sources to provide the movie, and was closely debt-ridden. Going through immense social and monetary strain, the director, who’s now broadly considered the daddy of Malayalam cinema, by no means made one other movie.

Rosy fled her hometown after an indignant mob set her home on hearth.

She minimize all ties together with her household to keep away from being recognised and by no means spoke publicly about her previous. She rebuilt her life by marrying an upper-caste man and took the identify Rajammal.

She lived the remainder of her life in obscurity within the city of Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu, Mr Abraham says.

Her kids refused to simply accept that PK Rosy, the Dalit actor, was their mom, Rosy’s nephew Mr Govindan says.

“Her kids had been born with an upper-caste Kesavan Pillai’s identification. They selected their father’s seed over their mom’s womb,” he says.

“We, her household, are a part of PK Rosy’s Dalit identification earlier than the movie’s launch,” he stated.

“Within the area they inhabit, caste restricts them from accepting their Dalit heritage. That’s their actuality and our household has no place in it.”

In 2013, a Malayalam TV channel tracked down Rosy’s daughter Padma, who was residing in monetary pressure someplace in Tamil Nadu. She instructed them that she didn’t know a lot about her mom’s life earlier than her marriage however that she didn’t act after that.

The BBC made makes an attempt to contact Rosy’s kids, however their relations stated they weren’t snug with the eye.

Prof Binny says that the erasure of Rosy’s legacy exhibits how deeply caste-based trauma can run.

“It may be so intense that it shapes or defines the remainder of one’s life,” she says, including that she is glad Rosy ultimately discovered a protected area.

In recent times, Dalit filmmakers and activists have sought to reclaim Rosy’s legacy. Influential Tamil director Pa Ranjith has launched a yearly movie pageant in her identify which celebrates Dalit cinema. A film society and basis have additionally been established.

However there’s nonetheless a haunting sense that whereas Rosy was finally saved, it was at the price of her ardour and identification.

“Rosy prioritised survival over artwork and, consequently, by no means tried to talk publicly or reclaim her misplaced identification. That is not her failure – it is society’s,” says Mr Govindan.

Comply with BBC Information India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.