Rajinikanth the Indian Superstar
The star as paratext in Tamil film
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Description
Exploring the career and work of the iconic “superstar” Rajinikanth, this in-depth study examines the ways in which Tamil masala cinema, plays with, reflects and comments on its own canon, history and contexts.
Taking in the full length of Rajinikanth's career from his “golden age” in the 1990s through to his established status as one of the most popular stars of Indian cinema, the book explores the trajectory of his screen image as it has built up through call backs, repeated gags and recurring tropes over several decades. Meenaatchi Saverimuttu demonstrates in this way how Rajinikanth has become an exemplar of the Tamil cinema star as 'paratexts' in their own right, reflecting on their own status and cultural position on- and off-screen.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Introduction: Nativity, Self-Reflexivity and the Masala Genre
Chapter 1: Key Tropes and Process
Chapter 2: Rajini, Masala and Native identity: Annamalai (1992) and Padayappa (1999)
Chapter 3: Adapting Rajini in the Works of S. Shankar: Sivaji (2007) and the Enthiran Duology (2010, 2018)
Part 2: Introduction: Nostalgia, Paratext and Politics
Chapter 4: Reintroducing Rajinikanth: Kabali (2016) and Kaala (2018)
Chapter 5: Revisiting Rajinikanth: Petta (2019)
Chapter 6: Competing Paratexts and Rajinikanth Proxies in Darbar (2020)
Postscript: The Future of the Star Paratext
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | Oct 15 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 9781350449466 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Dimensions | 234 x 156 mm |
| Series | Asian Celebrity and Fandom Studies |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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