PK Rosie: Why Malayalam cinema’s Dalit actress was cursed to live in the darkness of anonymity

arun Posted On April 1, 2025

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“Rosie’s story may not be fully recorded, but her existence has become a symbol of the struggle between caste and gender.”

Swadesh Kumar Sinha

A hundred years ago, it was very difficult for a woman to work in films, but if she was from the Dalit community, it was almost impossible. One such Malayalam film actress was PK Rosie; who was from the Dalit community. When her first and last film ‘Vigat Kumaran’ (Lost Child) premiered, the anger and hatred of the upper caste society fell upon her.

She played the heroine in this silent film. She was described as a sinner, a prostitute and a despicable woman who had broken the rules of Manusmriti. This film was released in Thiruvananthapuram in 1928 (although there are some differences regarding this year). Filmmaker J.C. Daniel directed it. He is considered the father of Malayalam cinema.

When a Dalit woman was seen as a Nair character in this film, the upper caste audience got angry. They vandalized the theater and chased Daniel and Rosie out of there. Even after this the violence did not stop–the mob set Rosie’s house on fire. Very little information is available about her life.

Google dedicated a doodle to her on her 120th birthday in 2023, but her actual birth date has not been confirmed till date.

Author Venu Abraham has written a novel called Nashtanayaka (Lost Heroine). He says that there is no concrete information about Rosie’s birth and death, even the popular picture of her is not considered authentic.

Rosie was born in the early 1900s in the Pulaya community of Thiruvananthapuram, who were considered ‘untouchable’ in the society. She worked as a grass cutter for a living, but her inclination towards acting led her to step into Kakkarasi Nataka (a folk theatre form). Rosy is believed to be the first woman to act in Kakkarasi Natakas. It was during this time that she met Daniel and worked in Vigathakumaran.

Due to the uproar after the premiere of the film, Rosy had to flee from Thiruvananthapuram to save her life. She is said to have fled to Nagercoil in a truck driven by a man named Keshava Pillai. She later married the same Keshava Pillai, who belonged to the Nair caste. Hiding her true identity, she spent the rest of her life in the society that had once refused to accept her.

She is said to have died in the 1980s, although the exact details are not available.

Daniel was a wealthy man, but the failure of Vigathakumaran and his subsequent attempts to make films left him financially devastated. In the 1960s, historian and journalist Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan revived his contributions and earned him recognition as the father of Malayalam cinema. Daniel died in 1975.

In the 1970s, historian Kunnukuzhy S. Mani began writing about Rosy. In the 21st century, several attempts have been made to get Rosy recognition. Venu Abraham first came to know about her in 2005 through a protest letter issued by an organisation of Dalit writers during the Kerala International Film Festival, and wrote Nashtanayika based on his research. Subsequently, in 2013, director Kamal made the Malayalam film Celluloid, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran as Daniel and debutante Chandani Geetha as Rosie. Although the film was criticised for portraying Rosie from an upper caste perspective, it became the most talked about film on Rosie’s life to date.

In 2019, the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) founded the PK Rosie Film Society to promote women and feminism in cinema.

“Rosie’s story may not be fully documented, but her existence has become a symbol of the struggle between caste and gender,” says WCC founding member Beena Paul.

In Tamil Nadu, filmmaker Pa. Ranjith’s Neelam Cultural Centre started the PK Rosie Film Festival, which showcases films based on Dalit themes. Rosie was also paid tribute in the signature video of the Kerala International Film Festival in 2024. In the 21st century, many efforts were made to get Rosie recognition. Even today, Dalit heroes and heroines are rarely seen in mainstream films. All this is commendable, but true justice will be done only when Dalit and female actors get a fair place in Indian cinema and such films become common, in which Dalit and female lead characters are there and whose Dalit caste identity is publicly known, such film stars are rare. Director Kamal believes that if Rosie were alive today, she would have got to play supporting roles instead of the main heroine.

In India, Dalit-themed cinema is mainly seen in the Marathi and Tamil industry, but even there it is mostly male-centric. Even after a century, Indian cinema has not been able to fully walk on the path created by the brave Dalit woman named Rosie.