Rohaan Thyagaraju is a fifth-year BBA LL.B. student at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, with academic interests in constitutional law, public policy, governance, and socio-legal studies. His work engages with questions of institutional legitimacy, regulatory frameworks, and the relationship between law, society, and democratic accountability. He has a keen interest in legal research and statutory interpretation, particularly in areas intersecting with constitutional values, media, and public discourse.
Introduction
The remarkable response to the film Maharaja in 2025, starring Vijay Sethupathy, portrays that the audience does not seek mere entertainment but also desires that the righteousness chronicled in the film must be incorporated into the formal legal system. While throughout the world, movies provide audiences with an overview of morality and law, the article confines itself to examining the Tamil films owing to their strong connection with politics and social reform, reflecting the perfect idea of the state.
The approach in which socio-political injustices are addressed in cinema through the restoration of dignity and the resolution of disputes allows a viewer to experience an emotional story that serves as informal law and complements the state’s use of legal authority, thereby creating a moral vocabulary of justice in the community. A prime example is Superstar Rajnikanth’s film “Baashha” (1995), in which an auto-rickshaw driver delivers justice to the unfairness in the society without even being a part of the justice system. This depicted “vigilante justice“ and persuaded the public to adopt it as an appropriate moral response because of the delay perpetrated by the institutions in place, although it may not align with formal law. Consequently, the Tamil film industry developed to an extent that it shaped formal law and does not seem to restrict itself to a subjective notion of morality.
Cinema shapes how people understand law.
Legal consciousness describes how a person perceives and interacts with the law routinely through their personal experiences. Hence, it is developed as a result of statutes, common law, and judicial decisions, as well as the narratives, collective remembrances and values in our culture. Tamil movies have been among the most significant creators of such impressions of law. Typically, most of the films portray legal issues, such as caste oppression, corruption, exploitation of labour, and gender-based violence, as moral conflicts, and the hero of the movie is viewed as being an outsider to the law. The hero investigates the wrong, renders a judgment of guilt, and seeks a just result.
When moral justice conflicts with legal justice
The narratives in movies directly influence how individuals view justice. Justice does not occur solely by following legal procedures; it is also tamed by the person inspired by a film’s expression. There is a clear connection between law and power in the exercise of authority within the function of the state. Through Critical Studies theory, it is evident that law does not possess inherent values, and it is dependent on the legislators and enforcers. Therefore, values are infused into the law through the power and ideologies of those who enforce it. In this regard, the law has failed in the eyes of the people, and they perceive that heroes preserve, inevitably creating a conflict between the law and the consciousness of the people. Tamil cinema establishes the audience’s expectations of law as they not only portray it but also subtly provides a solution.
An overview of political legitimacy and cinematic sovereignty
In the past, several Tamil movies had an impact on ethical standards worldwide, as they were observed as a form of education and propagated the Dravidian movement’s campaign for an anti-caste ideology government. The film provided a political manifesto through its dialogue and motivated the reform movement through its plot. The current style of jurisprudence originated from the on-screen persona of actor-turned-politician and Tamil Nadu’s former chief minister Dr M.G. Ramachandran (“M.G.R”), and from his contributions to changing jurisprudence and to demonstrating the current trend in juristic thinking. MGR is shown as a hero for the underprivileged, an efficient enforcer of law and order, and a societal judge of morality. Because he was a candidate, he represented the people who voted for him. They believed that MGR defined a world smeared with justice through film by discussing subjects such as family honour, fatherly love, and feelings you can relate to as an audience member. Hence, cinema is a quasi-sovereign realm that provides moral authority without actual sovereign authority through formal constitutional avenues.
Do films support the law or encourage vigilante justice?
The Tamil film industry frequently features stories of justice pursued outside the usual judicial avenues. It portrays a reality in which some authorities are corrupt or oppressive and seldom held accountable by law for their wrongful actions. These films typically illustrated how the heroes in Tamil cinema provided justice indirectly by helping people through their intervention, resonating well with the audiences to express their unarticulated frustrations regarding justice.
There has been ongoing debate among scholars over whether movies reinforce rule-of-law principles by depicting the unequal operation of public institutions or, conversely, whether and how they may reinforce the idea that vigilante justice can be carried out within the bounds of the law. Due to the numerous and complex pros and cons of this issue, it is clear that films can both demonstrate how individuals experience social injustice and be used as an incentive for groups examining social justice. Because films often do not accurately portray the operations of the criminal justice system, it is essential to use both types of films in conjunction when evaluating their role in promoting social justice.
This has created a significant cultural disconnect between the moral foundation portrayed in films as describing justice and the rational formulation of justice through the traditional application of law, and will continue to shape how members of society view the definition of justice.
Moral justice, gender roles & changing social thinking
This has created a significant cultural disconnect between the moral foundation portrayed in films as describing justice and the rational formulation of justice through the traditional application of law, and will continue to shape how members of society view the definition of justice. Patriarchal standards around honour, sexual purity, and the virtue of women have existed in film for many years, thus influencing society’s understanding of sexual morality. In these films, women are depicted as either innocent victims or guilty perpetrators, and the good/evil moral divide shown within the filmic canon perpetuates a sexist view of our justice system. Film can serve as a vehicle for social change, as many films such as Ponmagal Vaandhal, Aruvi and Farhana portray women as independent individuals who can defend themselves and broaden the concept of gender equality, as well as the concept of justice under the law. The agenda is to reinstate the idea of non-sexism, thereby enabling social change through film.
Tamil cinema as a source of informal law
Intrinsically, a film does not create a legal obligation; however, they do shape the expectations of people with regard to what constitutes justice, how accountable an individual should be for their illegal acts, and what is expected of an individual in terms of correct behaviour. The “living law” is an idea introduced by Eugen Ehrlich, who defined it as being laws that are created by social practices and therefore provide a basis for modification of legal consciousness in ways that go beyond the creation of formal institutions. The Tamil film Jai Bhim, released in 2021, raised issues related to custodial violence and access to justice; the film Mara Raja reinforced concepts of institutional accountability and human dignity; and the film Vaazhai depicted the issue of child labour and the structural qualities of inequality. All of these films helped shape collective perceptions of what is just and, as a result, shape how society views the legitimacy and fairness of the formal legal system.
The way forward
Among many other things, this research has important implications for social change and cinema in general. Specifically, Tamil cinema could influence how individuals develop their understanding of who has authority and how to access justice through informal means. This article makes the case that Tamil films are not just an avenue of culture but a powerful promoter of legal perception and public opinion concerning justice.
The idea is to highlight how, rather than undermine the legitimacy of the law, film reinforces it via social and cultural norms that exist outside of formal law. By popularising specific ideas about fairness, accountability, and state responsibility, film may also shape how judges and other institutions function within society.
Ultimately, Justice in Tamil Nadu is enshrined not just in the courtrooms but also through expressions catapulted in the movie halls. The positive social constructs induced by movies create opportunities for the legal system and policymakers to reform and stimulate them in performing their duties, especially concerning caste-related violence, custodial abuse, and issues affecting women. Further, the impact that cinema has on democratic processes cannot be overlooked. The historical blending of Tamil cinema and the success of candidates at elections provides evidence of how a cinematic narrative can turn actors into credible political leaders and turn moral authority into political legitimacy. Thus, cinema not only serves as a reflection of society but also serves as an institution that creates the public’s understanding of justice and governance, which both influence the manner in which laws are applied and the manner in which voting citizens will make decisions at the polls.
