An Insight into Human Animality through Psychoanalysis in Jallikattu

Abstract

An individual, in most cases, functions according to norms and rules favoured by society. Armed with herd consciousness, society often asserts a sense of primal superiority over the rest of the earthly inhabitants. Lijo Jose Pellisserry’s (LJP from this point) masterpiece “Jallikattu” is a one-of-a-kind venture into the animalistic Id buried under the ego topsoil of civilisation and modesty. It uncovers the animality within humanity. In this paper, we endeavour to seek out the manifestations and consequences of primal capability in man when the instincts are waved a green flag. Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents (1917) is used as loci for an in-depth understanding of the reasons behind the actions of the characters. The psyche must be fully understood as it is clear that the director intends a more profound meaning when the fringe between humans and animal blurs. Human ego, domination, insatiable greed and fading ethics are examined based on the events portrayed in the movie. Flamboyant exhibition of masculinity is broken down in the film, all the while when the hero-centric tradition of popular cinema is side-lined as well in due course of the progress in the narrative. The film explored how ritual leads to conditioned reality. The current venture lays psychoanalytical strain at these stages to establish a ritual-bestial sphere of analysis. According to Freud, civilisation arises from man’s drive to achieve individual needs and aims. The present research investigates Freud’s perspective on civilisation as a result of aggressiveness in the film.