Popular Cinema and Politics in South India - Reimagining MGR and Rajinikanth - A Semiotic, Psychoanalytical and Feminist Analysis

Jul 30, 2026

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Popular Cinema and Politics in South India - Reimagining MGR and Rajinikanth studies how Tamil cinema MGR and Rajinikanth function in image-politicking across political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions. Using a media-inclusive methodology, it combines semiotic, psychoanalytical, and feminist frameworks with sources such as fanzines, news coverage, gossip magazines, published film research, fan interviews, and fan-club case studies. The book connects cultural-literary roots with psycho-cultural mapping of body, narrative assemblages, and imaging strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages344

Reading Time14 h 27 min

Introduction: Popular as Political

Part I: Politics of Narrative

Part II: Politics of Body

Part III: Politics of Imaging Politics

Part I: Politics of Narrative

1. Assemblage Structure

2. Image-Building Devices

Part II: 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 III: 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

Filmography

Select Bibliography

About the Author

Index

Popular Cinema and Politics in South India [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) The research methodologies of Dr Rajanayagam are exemplary for those who want to do in-depth research in the issues concerning the influences of cinema and its impacts on political, social, economic and cultural planes. —S. Raguram Eastern University, Sri Lanka This book uses a media-inclusive approach to provide a comprehensive and brilliant semiotic, psychoanalytical, and feminist analysis of imagepoliticking of two dramatis personae of Thamizh film: MGR and Rajinikanth. Apart from deconstructing the most significant films of these two heroes, the book also uses several secondary sources such as fanzines, news articles, gossip magazines, published research on films, interviews with fans, and case studies of fan clubs to provide a multi-disciplinary, multi-site, multi-layer analysis. —Srividya Ramasubramanian Texas A&M University, USA The book delves into the cultural-literary roots of significant patterns observed in films; particularly, the psycho-cultural mapping of body and cultural tetrad are new to Thamizh/Indian film studies. I recommend this book especially to the media scholars and critics to derive inspiration and interest in the area of media and politics. —Bernd Trocholepczy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitaet, Frankfurt am Main, Germany [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Popular Cinema and Politics in South India Reimagining MGR and Rajinikanth S. Rajanayagam [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) First published 2015 in India by Routledge 912 Tolstoy House, 15–17 Tolstoy Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi 110 001 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 S. Rajanayagam Typeset by Glyph Graphics Private Limited 23 Khosla Complex Vasundhara Enclave Delhi 110 096 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-138-82203-0 [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) to my parents Salethammal Salethu Pillai [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) CONTENTS Figures and Tables Abbreviations Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration Introduction: Popular as Political Part I: Politics of Narrative 1. Assemblage Structure 2. Image-Building Devices Part II: 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 III: 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 Filmography Select Bibliography About the Author Index [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) FIGURES AND TABLES Figures 1.1 Hero-Centric Model of Dramatis Personae 2.1 Hierarchy of Villains 2.2 Hero–Villain Continuum 2.3 Double-Roles—An Analytical Model 2.4 On-Going Circulation of Cine Song Massaging 2.5 Tea-Stall Politiking 5.1 Women—A Cultural Tetrad 5.2 Male-Female Inter-Relationship 5.3 Mother Fixation—MGR 5.4 Mother Fixation—RK 6.1 Universification of Multiverse 6.2 Double-Bodied Migrantcy 7.1 Attitude Towards Wealth—General Pattern 7.2 Attitude Towards Wealth—Hero vis-à-vis Heroine 8.1 Justice—MGR’s Version 8.2 Justice—RK’s Version 8.3 Terrain Switching 9.1 Cinema Theatre as a Liminal Zone 9.2 Circles of Thiruvizhaa 9.3 Psycho-Pol

FAQs

What research approach does the book use to analyze MGR and Rajinikanth?

It applies a media-inclusive methodology, combining semiotic, psychoanalytical, and feminist analysis to examine image-politicking around MGR and Rajinikanth.

Which types of sources are used beyond the films themselves?

The analysis draws on secondary materials such as fanzines, news articles, gossip magazines, published film research, interviews with fans, and case studies of fan clubs.

How is the book organized to cover politics in cinema?

It is structured into three parts: politics of narrative, politics of body, and politics of imaging politics, culminating in chapter-level studies of filmic and fan-related modes of political meaning.

Jul 30, 2026

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