Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics Of India's Other Film Industry

Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia #14

by Selvaraj Velayutham

This book examines Tamil cinema, which has recently overtaken Bollywood in terms of annual output, outlining its history and distinctive characteristics, and proceeds to consider a number of important themes such as gender, religion, class, caste, fandom, cinematic genre, the politics of identity and diaspora.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, India

217 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Dr. Nanki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The devotional collaboration of Tamil cinema and politics and the new trend of re-releasing all oldies of MGR and SG reminds me of Susan Sontag's article on "The Decay of Cinema" that she contributed for The New York Times in '96 where she explains 'Cinephilia'. No remake can match the original. Original is always special because someone thought of it first making the characters and story timeless appeal for the audience. New gimmicks and gloss of contemporary times generally present an incomplete version of the thought...how can it be the same :) All in all a delight to know about the cinema, culture and the poilitics that rules the soil of the Detroit of India!