CCSAP Report - Ministry of Home Affairs

experienced a long history of oppressive feudal rule which shaped the character
of the people and also generated the resistance to it. Telangana people are often
considered subservient and lazy and they feel that coastal Andhra people
exercise a „veiled contempt‟ towards them. Hence, their desire to be in their own
state where they would not face constant belittling comparison, especially with
the dominant Andhras of the Delta districts.
7.15.13 There is little doubt that the culture industry in AP at present is
dominated by the coastal Andhra side as they own much of the film industry and
other means of mass communication such as the print and audio-visual media.
Hence, they can exercise a substantial amount of power over the forms of culture
that are popularized besides influencing public debate on issues of importance to
the state. The domination of the film industry by coastal Andhra
businessmen/film makers (especially after its relocation from Chennai to
Hyderabad – the largest studios being Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad),
popularized the Delta landscape with its green paddy fields as the ubiquitous
background for most movies produced by them. 44 However, there are indications
that as Telangana begins to catch up in literacy and education and grow
economically, it is also beginning to acquire means of mass communication. 45
This is not only true of the Telangana region but all over the country one sees a
renaissance of vernacular cultures – of Bhojpuri, for instance, of Chhat puja of
Bihar, of regional language television channels and print media. The modern
technologies of communication make it possible for subaltern groups and regions
to make their presence felt. The same is true, for instance, of the efflorescence
of Dalit literature all over the country. 46 It is equally true of the emergence of
women‟s writing which is especially strong in Andhra Pradesh.
44
Srinivas S.V., 2008 “Cardboard Monuments: City, language and „nation‟ in contemporary Telugu cinema” Singapore Journal of
Tropical Geography 29 (2008) 87–100
45
Srinivas, while analyzing the film „Okaddu‟ argues that it is Rayalaseema that remains the
„unassimilated‟ region, characterized by its lack of cultural and economic development and its „excessive
violence‟. (ibid:96)
46
K. Purushotham 2010 Evolution of Telugu Dalit Literature, Economic and Political Weekly Vol.
XLV,No.22
402