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Google is celebrating PK Rosy, the first female lead in Malayalam cinema with an animated doodle on her 120th birth anniversary. The trailblazer was forced out of Kerala after her role caused controversy.
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The actor was born Rajamma in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on February 10, 1903. She is best known for playing the lead role in the film Vigathakumaran, directed by JC Daniel.
PK Rosy was from the Pulaya community, which is classified as a Scheduled Caste, and played the role of an upper-caste Nair woman in the film. Reportedly, Rosy was forced to leave Kerala after backlash.
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Who Was PK Rosy?
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- The trailblazing actor PK Rosy reportedly started off as a grasscutter. According to her living relatives, her father died when she was very young, leaving her family in poverty.
- Rosy is best known for playing the lead role in Vigathakumaran. She played the role of Sarojini, and the film included a scene in which the male lead kissed a flower in her hair.
- As per reports, when the film was screened in Thiruvananthapuram the audience was angry that a Dalit woman played the role of an upper-caste woman.
- Reportedly, the scene in which the male lead, played by director JC Daniel kissed a flower she wore in her hair. The enraged audience pelted stones at the screen and damaged it.
- PK Rosy faced harassment and was forced to leave Kerala. As per reports, she married a truck driver and left to Tamil Nadu.
- The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) of the Malayalam film industry announced they would launch a film society named after PK Rosy.
- The WCC said in a statement, "The act of naming our film society a PK Rosy Film Society is a humble attempt to be sensitive and to take note of all those who have been excluded from dominant cinema histories through their gender, caste, religious or class locations and our own imagination."
- Google said, "Rosy's story is relevant to conversations about representation in the media. Today, her story serves as motivation and inspiration for many."