CULTURAL IMAGINARIES AND POLITICAL UNDERCURRENTS IN THE SONG “AALATHINU CENTRE” FROM THE MALAYALAM MOVIE LOKAH: CHAPTER 1(CHANDRA)

C. M. Meera

doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i9s.2026.8025

Authors

C. M. Meera Assistant Professor (ADHOC), Department of English (Aided), Christ College (Autonomous), Irinjalakuda, Kerala, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i9s.2026.8025

Keywords:

Cultural Text In Film Music, Sound And Performance Politics, Encoding, Decoding Malayali Identity And Resistance, Gender Performativity, Cultural Hybridity, Feminine Agency In Popular Culture

Abstract [English]

“Aalathinu Centre”, a song from malayalam movie Lokah, is one cultural text in which the various ideological strands, gender, postcolonial identity and resistance have converged in sound, image and performance. When the song is decoded in its stratified meanings, we get the sense that the song is more than a musical interlude: it is a statement of Malayali identity in a global media circuit. It contains a female narrative of power, mythic agency and political awakening that is open to a range of audience interpretations. The encoding / decoding theory by Stuart Hall, the gender performativity theory by Judith Butler and the concept of hybridity by Homi K. Bhabba, all present an effective means of deconstructing the ideological meaning of the song form and content.

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