Popular Cinema and Politics in South India

This book explores how public and cinematic personas merge in the political landscape of Tamil Nadu in India. Using the films of MGR and Rajinikanth, it reveals the intricate warp and the weft of political and cultural life of the Tamils, while examining Dravida identity, caste and language.

Zusatztext The cinema-politics nexus is a powerful narrative that animates the political and cultural landscape of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In this thoughtprovoking book! Rajanayagam deconstructs this natural symbiosis . . . to reveal a more complex and rich reading of the transition from the screen to politics. - Selvaraj Velayutham! Macquarie UniversityRajanayagam provides a penetrating and unprecedented insight into the political commentary of two of India's leading film stars. A must read for anyone interested in their work! or the connection between film and politics.- Richard C. Reuben! University of Missouri School of Law Informationen zum Autor S. Rajanayagam is Director, People Studies, Chennai; and Associate Professor, Department of Visual Communication, Loyola College, Chennai. Klappentext This work breaks new ground in the understanding of South Indian cinema and politics. Through incisive analysis and original concepts it illustrates the private, public and cinematic personas of MGR and Rajinikanth. It challenges the popular and scholarly myths surrounding them and shows the constant negotiation of their on-screen and off-screen identities. The book revisits the entire political history of post-Independent Tamil Nadu through its cinema,and presents a refreshing psycho-political and cultural map of contemporary South India.This absorbing volume will be an important read for scholars, teachers and students of film studies, culture and media studies, and politics, especially those interested in South India. Zusammenfassung This book explores how public and cinematic personas merge in the political landscape of Tamil Nadu in India. Using the films of MGR and Rajinikanth, it reveals the intricate warp and the weft of political and cultural life of the Tamils, while examining Dravida identity, caste and language. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction: Popular as Political . Part 1: Politics of Narrative. 1. Assemblage Structure 2. Image-Building Devices Part 2: Politics of Body 3. Imaging Male Body 4. On Being a Man's Woman 5. Psycho-Cultural Mapping of Body 6. Double Bodied Migrantcy 7. Wealth of Poverty 8. Dispensation of Justice Part 3: Politics of Imaging Politics 9. Image and Imagining 10. Politically-Loaded Octa-Motifs 11. Imaging by Tactexting 12. MGR: Politics as Co-text 13. RK: Politics as Context 14. Cinelating Politiking 15. Politics beyond Politics: Trans-Image Voting. Select Bibliography . ...

Autorentext

S. Rajanayagam is Director, People Studies, Chennai; and Associate Professor, Department of Visual Communication, Loyola College, Chennai.

Klappentext

This work breaks new ground in the understanding of South Indian cinema and politics. Through incisive analysis and original concepts it illustrates the private, public and cinematic personas of MGR and Rajinikanth. It challenges the popular and scholarly myths surrounding them and shows the constant negotiation of their on-screen and off-screen identities. The book revisits the entire political history of post-Independent Tamil Nadu through its cinema,and presents a refreshing psycho-political and cultural map of contemporary South India. This absorbing volume will be an important read for scholars, teachers and students of film studies, culture and media studies, and politics, especially those interested in South India.

Inhalt

Introduction: Popular as Political. Part 1: Politics of Narrative. 1. **Assemblage Structure **2. Image-Building Devices **Part 2: Politics of Body 3.Imaging Male Body 4. On Being a Man's Woman **5.Psycho-Cultural Mapping of Body6. Double Bodied Migrantcy 7.Wealth of Poverty 8. Dispensation of Justice Part 3: Politics of Imaging Politics 9. Image and Imagining 10.Politically-Loaded Octa-Motifs 11. Imaging by Tactexting 12. MGR: Politics as Co-text 13. RK: Politics as Context 14. Cinelating Politiking 15. Politics beyond Politics: Trans-Image Voting. Select Bibliography.