So I watched this Kannada movie "Sa. Hi. Pra. shaale Kasaragodu". It's a well made movie as for cinematic values, but I feel something is missing.
The movie is by Rishabh Shetty gang (Who is really good filmmaker as far as Kannada movies go). But the movie depicts it almost like Kasaragod as a significantly Kannadiga majority area, which is a little hard to believe or I think missing some details.
Firstly, as far as I know, southern coast of Karnataka is always a linguistically diverse region with people speaking Kannada (various dialects), Konkani etc.. with Tulu being majority in South. There is no way Rishabh Shetty (whom I suppose is a Tuluva by last name) is not aware of this. I suppose He made it so that the movie will appear to majority Kannada audience. Since Kasaragod was split from South Kanara and joined to Kerala, it's highly unlikely it's Kannadiga majority, which some googling vaguely confirms.
Secondly I don't think anyone speaking Malayalam in the movie seem to use hardcore Kasaragod dialect (which I heard in movies like Puthan Panam).
So definitely the movie is a simplistic depiction compared to reality.
I am curious about actual linguistic demographic in the region.
-
How many Tuluvas vs Kannadigas vs Malayalis (in %) approximately are there?
-
Is malayalam spoken across Kasaragod is heavily Tulu influenced (as in Puthan Panam etc.. movies) or southern parts speak more 'standard' Malayalam?
-
Do Kannadigas speak standard Mangalore Kannada or are there also dialects such as Kundapur / Havyaka Kannada? (which are spoken in Mangalore and north)?
-
Since there are so many languages, are people also very multilingual? Does your average person from Kasaragod knows Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu and Konkani among others?
That's some oddly specific questions but I think the southern coast is somewhat unique for its linguistic diversity.
