Popular Cinema and Politics in South India: The Films of MGR and Rajinikanth / Edition 1

by S. Rajanayagam

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138822030
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/05/2015
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

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

Table of Contents

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.

Editorial Reviews

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 University

Rajanayagam 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

From the Publisher