{TEXTBOOK} Tamil Cinema: the Cultural Politics of Indias Other Film
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TAMIL CINEMA: THE CULTURAL POLITICS OF INDIAS OTHER FILM INDUSTRY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Selvaraj Velayutham | 220 pages | 30 Apr 2009 | Taylor & Francis Ltd | 9780415492195 | English | London, United Kingdom Verify your identity The beginnings of this connection started quite early. During the silent era, the popular entertainment was commercial drama that has come to be known as company drama. There were nearly touring drama companies operating at this time in the Madras presidency. As long as cinema remained silent, there was no interaction between the drama artists and the film makers. The drama artists were mostly singers and musicians and there was no place for them in the silent screen. But once sound was introduced in cinema, the world of drama companies moved into the cinema studios. Most of the talkie films made during the first decade of the sound era were plays that had proved popular. The normal practice was to engage a drama troupe, make them enact the play and shoot it, head on, in long takes. Remember that we are talking about , when the Civil Disobedience Movement, a major event in India's struggle for freedom, was at its height. The dramatic salt march by Gandhi was part of this movement. Most of the drama companies had already been highly politicized, particularly after the Jallianwalabagh massacre of , in which hundreds of people attending a political meeting were killed by 16 British police, and they supported the cause of freedom struggle through their dramas and songs. Numerous plays were banned. Many well-known actors took part in direct political action and courted arrest. When sound came to south Indian cinema, the politicized, nationalistic group of drama artists moved into the world of films. They brought with them into cinema their ideology and a penchant for political activism. The very first Tamil [1] film, "Kalidas" a mythological film made in , had a song praising Gandhi. This was the beginning of politicization of south Indian cinema. Within a few years, patriotic films were produced and cinema became an instrument of political propaganda. Many film artists began taking direct part in politics and in the process lent their charisma to the nationalist cause. Some went as delegates to National Congress sessions and many appeared with national leaders on political platforms. The artists of the world of entertainment, both from the stage and the screen, gained a new respectability by their political activism. In the wake of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms, in the Madras Presidency general elections were held in Many film and drama actors campaigned for the Congress Party, which swept the elections and assumed office in six provinces, including Madras. They ruled for two years, until at the behest of Gandhi, the ministries resigned, protesting against India's involvement in the war. During this Congress interregnum, censorship was virtually lifted and a series of patriotic films were made. After India gained independence became a republic, a very popular actress, K. Sundarambal, entered the legislature in in Madras as a Congress nominee, the first film artist to enter an Indian legislature. Thus began the process. However, the Congress leader Satyamurthi, who acted as the link between the world of entertainment-drama and cinema-and the Nationalists died. The other leaders looked down upon cinema and drama and disowned the world of film and drama. The Dravidian movement, a reformist movement that was coming up in the s, had started using the stage for propaganda. After Satyamurti's death, the artists, leaderless and directionless, gravitated towards the Dravidian movement, whose leaders offered them recognition and patronage. Many of the leading lights of the movement, including C. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi, were themselves playwrights and often acted in plays. Later they were to become the chief ministers of the state of Tamilnadu, one after the other. It was they, the Dravidian leaders, and bitter political enemies of Satyamurthi, who eventually inherited the force that he had assiduously nurtured and used in their journey to power, creating the phenomenon of star politicians. Ramachandran, the best known star-politician and later to be the chief minister of Tamilnadu, had in fact acted in nationalistic plays and was a khadi-wearing Congress sympathizer before he joined the Dravidian party. The interaction between cinema and politics in South India continues. In the June elections to the upper house of the Indian Parliament, two film stars were elected-from two opposing parties-in the state of Tamilnadu. Theodore Baskaran, a film historian who has done extensive research on the interaction of cinema and social movements, spent the fall semester at the U-M as a Hughes Visiting Scholar with the Center for South Asian Studies. The Tamil language is spoken by 66 million people in the state of Tamilnadu in India and in the Indian diaspora. Madras, the capital of Tamilnadu, has one of the most prolific film industries. So far more than Tamil films have been made. Skip to main content Skip to quick search Skip to global navigation. Quick search:. Home Search Browse Contact. Theodore Baskaran. Volume 9 , Issue 2 , Winter Top of page. Eleftheriotis, D. Eleftheriotis and G. Edinburgh University Press, pp. Ellis, J. Butler ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. Gledhill, C. Cook ed. London: BFI. Gokulsing, K. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books. Gopalan, L. Grant, B. Grodal, T. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Hardgrave, R. Kaali, S. Vasudevan ed. Oxford University Press, pp. Lequeret, E. Neale, S. London: Routledge. Pandian, M. Ramachandran in Film and Politics. New Delhi: Sage. Prasad, M. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Fischer and M. Landy eds , Stars: The Film Reader. London: Routledge, pp. Ramachandran, N. Schweinitz, J. Sebastian, P. Srinivas, R. Nandy ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. Srinivas, S. Vijay Devadas - Google Scholar This book examines critically the cultural and cinematic representations in Tamil cinema. It outlines 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. Throughout, the book cogently links the analysis to wider social, political and cultural phenomena in Tamil and Indian society. Overall, it is an exciting and original contribution to an under-studied field, also facilitating a fresh consideration of the existing body of scholarship on Indian cinema. Tamil Cinema : the cultural politics of India's other film industry. N2 - Hitherto, the academic study of Indian cinema has focused primarily on Bollywood, despite the fact that the Tamil film industry, based in southern India, has overtaken Bollywood in terms of annual output. AB - Hitherto, the academic study of Indian cinema has focused primarily on Bollywood, despite the fact that the Tamil film industry, based in southern India, has overtaken Bollywood in terms of annual output. Postcolonial Studies: Culture, Politics, Economy 4 2 , , Tamil Cinema: The cultural politics of India's other film industry, , Conviviality in everyday multiculturalism: Some brief comparisons between Singapore and Sydney A Wise, S Velayutham European journal of cultural studies 17 4 , , Moral economies of a translocal village: obligation and shame among South Indian transnational migrants S Velayutham, A Wise Global Networks 5 1 , , Mga bagong pagsipi sa may-akdang ito. Mga bagong artikulong nauugnay sa pananaliksik ng may-akdang ito. Email address para sa mga update. Tapos na. Aking profile Aking library Metrics Mga Alerto. Mga setting. Mag-sign in. Magkaroon ng sarili kong profile Sinipi ni Tingnan lahat Lahat Simula Mga Pagsipi h-index 17 13 iindex 21 Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University. Mga Artikulo Sinipi ni. Pamagat Pagbukud-bukurin Pagbukud-bukurin ayon sa mga pagsipi Pagbukud-bukurin ayon sa taon Pagbukud-bukurin ayon sa pamagat. European journal of cultural studies 17 4 , , The Economic and Labour Relations Review 24 3 , , Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry - Google Books Add co-authors Co-authors. Upload PDF. Follow this author. New articles by this author. New citations to this author. New articles related to this author's research. Email address for updates. My profile My library Metrics Alerts. Sign in. Email address para sa mga update. Tapos na. Aking profile Aking library Metrics Mga Alerto. Mga setting. Mag-sign in. Magkaroon ng sarili kong profile Sinipi ni Tingnan lahat Lahat Simula Mga Pagsipi h-index 17 13 iindex 21 Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University. Mga Artikulo Sinipi ni. Pamagat Pagbukud-bukurin Pagbukud- bukurin ayon sa mga pagsipi Pagbukud-bukurin ayon sa taon Pagbukud-bukurin ayon sa pamagat. European journal of cultural studies 17 4 , , The Economic and Labour Relations Review 24 3 , , Journal of ethnic and migration studies 34 1 , , International Journal of Sociology 47 2 , , Overall, it is an exciting and original contribution to an under-studied field, also facilitating a fresh consideration of the existing body of scholarship on Indian cinema. Tamil Cinema : the cultural politics of India's other film industry. N2 - Hitherto, the academic study of Indian cinema has focused primarily on Bollywood, despite the fact that the Tamil film industry, based in southern India, has overtaken Bollywood in terms of annual output. AB - Hitherto, the academic study of Indian cinema has focused primarily on Bollywood, despite the fact that the Tamil film industry, based in southern India, has overtaken Bollywood in terms of annual output. Tamil Cinema the cultural politics of India's other film industry. Department of Sociology. Overview Fingerprint. Canadian Journal of Film Studies: Vol 19, No 1 Cambridge University Press. Velayutham ed. New York: Routledge, pp. Dudrah, R. Eleftheriotis, D. Eleftheriotis and G. Edinburgh University Press, pp. Ellis, J. Butler ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. Gledhill, C. Cook ed. London: BFI. Gokulsing, K. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books.