Three Colours of Conscience: Power, Inequality and Social Pedagogy in Nirangal Moondru
Sr No:
Page No:
79-84
Language:
English
Authors:
Dr. M. Nagalakshmi*, Dr. U. Thanesh, Dr. A. Ganesan
Received:
2026-03-16
Accepted:
2026-04-17
Published Date:
2026-04-28
Abstract:
This paper will attempt to analyse Nirangal Moondru through the conceptual framework of power, discipline, and social
control proposed by the French social theorist Michel Foucault. The film, which explores the moral difficulties and institutional
interventions in its characters‘ lives, uses the metaphor of ―three colours‖ to convey the struggle for truth and justice. According to
Foucault, ―power produces knowledge‖ and operates through social institutions, rather than repressive power relations (Foucault 27).
This study will contend that, in the context of Nirangal Moondru, the concept of conscience has been constructed and manufactured by
society‘s disciplinary mechanisms. The film portrays how institutional forces, such as law and public opinion, shape and define the
concepts of crime and deviance in society. Nirangal Moondru, in its investigation of social hierarchy and inequality, reveals how
inequality operates on a subtle level to shape the construction of truth. The film, in its portrayal of the internalisation of surveillance
and moral discipline, illustrates the ―automatic functioning of power‖ in society, in which individuals regulate and discipline
themselves even in the absence of external power relations, as Foucault has proposed (201). Ultimately, the paper argues that the film
operates as a site of social pedagogy, stimulating viewers to interrogate dominant narratives of justice and morality. By bringing to
light the invisible circulation of power, Nirangal Moondru transforms cinema into a critical space that cultivates awareness of
structural inequality and the politics of conscience.
Keywords:
Power, Discipline, Social Control, Inequality, Conscience