Volume VI Issue I January-March 2026

Name of Author : Dr. A. Arputha Pragasam

Title of the paper : Paradigm of Postcolonial Borders, Boundaries and Bodies in the Select Films of Mani Ratnam

Abstract: The aesthetic representation of postcolonial realities through cinema offers a powerful lens to interrogate the enduring consequences of colonial histories, nationalist ideologies, and cultural fragmentations. In Indian cinema, Mani Ratnam emerges as a significant filmmaker whose works consistently engage with the political, geographical, and emotional fractures of postcolonial India. Borders, boundaries, and bodies function as crucial paradigms through which his films articulate the lived experiences of conflict, displacement, and identity negotiation. Postcolonial borders regulate geopolitical relations and national imaginaries boundaries demarcate religious, linguistic, ethnic, and ideological divisions and bodies become sites where power, violence, desire, and resistance are inscribed. The aftermath of colonialism in India has produced persistent socio political tensions manifested through communal riots, insurgencies, anti-national movements, and contested nationalisms. This paper critically examines these postcolonial paradigms through select Tamil films of Mani Ratnam are Roja 1992, Bombay 1995, Uyire 1998, and Kannathil Muthamittal 2002. Employing postcolonial theory, cultural studies, and film analysis, the study argues that Mani Ratnam’s cinema destabilises hegemonic nationalist narratives by foregrounding human vulnerability, ethical dilemmas, and corporeal suffering. His films reimagine the nation not as a rigid territorial entity but as an affective and moral space shaped by empathy, memory, and resistance.

Keywords : Postcolonialism, Borders, Boundaries, Bodies, Indian Cinema, Mani Ratnam, Tamil Films, Nationalism

DOI :

Page Number : 38-43