A look at how caste & class dynamics influenced the portrayal of lungi & vetti in Thamizh cinema.
There is a stark contrast in portrayal of the lungi and vetti in Thamizh cinema. The white vetti-sattai has enjoyed the status of respectable traditional attire of Thamizh film protagonists for many decades. Whereas, the Thamizh film industry largely reduced lungi into untidy costumes of goons or for TASMAC dance sequences, thereby creating a stereotypical on-screen image for the garment. However, renowned filmmakers like Pa Ranjith, Vetrimaaran, & Mari Selvaraj have catalysed a paradigm shift in portrayal of lungis in Thamizh cinema. In the Thamizh blockbuster Karnan, the protagonist Dhanush is clad in an array of printed and checked lungis as he bravely revolts against the systematic oppression of caste. Actor Dhanush also popularised lungis in critically acclaimed films like Aadukalam, Vada Chennai and Asuran. The versatile wasit-wrap garment emerged as a raging style statement on the silver-screen when superstar Rajinikanth adorned black kaili/lungi in the movie Kaala. With the recent spotlight on lungi in Thamizh films, the humble garment is challenging the inherent caste & class prejudices.
Both lungi and vetti are traditional Thamizh cultural garments which evolved from keeladai – a waist-wrapped lower garment worn by Thamizh people well until medieval era. White vettis with decorative borders are prominent in Chozha murals which were restored by Telugu Nayaka rulers in the 16-17th century. Brahmins and other dominant non-Brahmin castes of Nayaka society wore panchakachcham & mulakachcham dhotis which were draped around the waist with pleats in front, passed in between the legs and tucked at back. People lower in caste hierarchy wore a vetti which was a rather short cloth simply tied around their waists in tube-silhouette without passing it between the legs. During the colonial era, zamindars and bureaucrats who worked under the British combined ankle-length white dhotis and vettis with British clothing like blazers, jackets, and long coats.
The ankle-length white vetti which symbolised the fashion of dominant castes over the years emerged as the honourable attire of Thamizh man in 80-90s Kollywood films which also propagated caste pride and supremacy. Thalaivar Rajinikanth wore pristine vetti-sattai in the film Yejaman where he played a village chieftain. Action hero Vijaykanth infamously wore white vetti-sattai in Chinna Gounder where he played a village landlord. Actor Sarathkumar donned the white vetti for the role of village chief in the film Nattamai. Sarathkumar also sported the vetti-sattai look for the character Sakthivel Gounder in Suryavamsam. In the film Thevar Magan, a London-educated Sakthivel played by Kamal Haasan, goes on to trade his western shirts and trousers for white vetti-sattai when he inherits his father’s role of village chieftain. In the Mani Ratnam film Nayakan, actor Kamal Haasan sports the head-to-toe white vetti-sattai look for the character Velu Naicker, the vigilante gangster from Dharavi. Pa Ranjith’s Kaala, which is also set in Dharavi, goes on to reimagine the savarna gaze by dressing Rajinikanth in black kaili/lungi. In Mari Selvaraj’s Karnan, the elderly people who’re accustomed to the bullying of dominant castes wear vetti & thundu to dress on par with savarna supremacy. In contrary, the more rebellious youngsters of Puliyankulam are depicted in lungis – where the fabric symbolises their non-conformity to the established sartorial politics.
Lungi boasts of a far bigger trade history and global presence than vettis. As early as the 12th century, Thamizh traders exported small checked scarves to Middle-East where it was known by the Persian word “Loongee”. Waist-wrap garments known as “kaili” or “saaram” in Thamizh, was discovered by East India Company in the 17th century. Checked kaili was popularly worn by Muslim men, and was also cut up and made into tight-fitting bodices by Thamizh women. The checked kailis, exported as “Madras cotton” or “Madras checks” were among the most profitable textiles that were woven and exported from colonial India. Demand for lightweight & comfortable Madras cloth was so high in the West that the local European textile tycoons appealed to their governments to slow its import. Owing to the popularity of Madras checks, countries like Switzerland, Japan, and Korea manufactured “Imitation Madras” to which East India Company responded with “Real Madras Handkerchiefs” also known as RMHK. The Madras checks first reached the United States in the 18th century and later became a symbol of American luxury in the 1930s. Handkerchiefs & kailis were two main product lines of Madras cloth and by the 20th century, the demand for kaili surpassed the handkerchief counterpart, thereby resulting in the popularity of modern-day lungi. In 21st century, the lungi is a formal ceremonial wear in Myanmar. The waist-wrap garment is also popular across Islamic countries of middle-East, Africa, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where Muslims wear lungis to the mosque – a garment in which they offer prayers.
In a striking contrast of perceptions, lungis are unwelcomed in many temples across India. Several movie halls, hotels, restaurants, and other elite spaces in India forbid wearing lungi. The clothing we wear is influenced by various socio-cultural factors including the caste and class structures. The positive portrayal of lungis in new-age Thamizh cinema is only a small but significant step in altering classist and casteist perceptions associated with clothing.
