The Image Trap

The Image Trap PDF

Author: M. S. S. Pandian

Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited

Published: 2015-04-17

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789351500667

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The Image Trap analyses the phenomenon of M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), the legendary film star-cum-politician of Tamil Nadu, as a modern-day political myth. This book offers fascinating details about the extent to which MGR was successful in creating a stereotypical cinematic persona, and what repercussions it had on Tamil Nadu. Delineating the cultural elements that were meticulously mobilised to constitute MGR’s on-screen image, it analyses the popularity he enjoyed among the poor whose interests he constantly violated. This is done by means of what Pandian termed as constructed biographies which are popular narratives that ingeniously present the cinematic as real. It brings out the interface and interplay between the media and political processes. A blend of essay writing, political rhetoric and scholarship, the book features the complete filmography of MGR and is a must for understanding the contemporary politics of the state.

The Empress

The Empress PDF

Author: Kalyani Shankar

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-09-10

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 9386606127

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The book captures the life and times of ' puratchi thalaivi' Jayalalithaa who through sheer will and determination rose to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1991. Under her leadership the AIADMK came to power four times: 1991,2001,2011 and 2016. Her death on December 5, 2016 was sudden. For many, Jaya was a cult figure, who remained an enigma all her life. She could garner votes and pull crowds on the basis of her charismatic appeal, which she had cultivated during her initial years as a movie star. Known as the 'Iron Lady' of Tamil Nadu, her autocratic style brooked no dissent from her party whose members fawned over wish with slavish displays of obedience. Hailing from the celluloid world, Jaya's life story runs like a screenplay. She excelled in two fields: films and politics. She was introduced to films by her mother and to politcs by her mentor and the AIADMK founder M.G.Ramachandran , himself a super star. From filmdom to politics, her life remains an interesting subject of study. She was known as 'Amma'( mother) to her voters , and though a Brahmin, her appeal transcended caste, language and creed. She pioneered welfare schemes and portrayed herself as the champion of poor by introducing schemes to provide cheap food, medicines, cement and even mineral water. The book portrays the ups and downs in her life, her legal and political battles and her political dominance in Tamil Nadu. Jaya may be dead, but she has ensured that her legend lives on. She was an empress when alive, and continues to reign from the afterlife.

Popular Cinema and Politics in South India

Popular Cinema and Politics in South India PDF

Author: S. Rajanayagam

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-06-12

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1317587731

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This work breaks new ground in the understanding of South Indian cinema and politics. Through incisive analysis and original concepts it illustrates the private, public and cinematic personas of MGR and Rajinikanth. It challenges the popular and scholarly myths surrounding them and shows the constant negotiation of their on-screen and off-screen identities. The book revisits the entire political history of post-Independent Tamil Nadu through its cinema,and presents a refreshing psycho-political and cultural map of contemporary South India. This absorbing volume will be an important read for scholars, teachers and students of film studies, culture and media studies, and politics, especially those interested in South India.

Pandora's Daughters

Pandora's Daughters PDF

Author: Kalyani Shankar

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-04-09

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9382951067

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Pandora's Daughters looks at eight prominent women leaders in modern India who have achieved great power in the male-dominated world of Indian politics, examining their traits and personalities, tactics and manoeuvres, strengths and disadvantages and analysing the reasons for their success. With her years of experience in covering national politics, Shankar combines rigorous research and invaluable insight to make Pandora's Daughters essential reading for all who wish to understand politics in India today.

Regional Satraps and the Battle for India Foreign Policy

Regional Satraps and the Battle for India Foreign Policy PDF

Author: Kalyani Shankar

Publisher: Vij Books India Pvt Ltd

Published: 2017-12-01

Total Pages: 493

ISBN-13: 9386457342

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This book is a pioneering work about the growing domestic influences on India’s foreign policy with the increasing number of powerful chief ministers asserting at the state level. It investigates how and why in a coalition era with a globally integrated Indian economy, managing a parliamentary coalition and also working with Chief Ministers from the opposition-ruled States is increasingly becoming difficult and a challenge to Prime Ministers. The study explores particularly the concerns of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Northeastern states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other border states and the issues pertaining to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. Most of the disputes with the neighbouring countries have been on water sharing, land and security, which impinge on the state. The study shows that there is a case for institutionalising the process of consultation and involvement of these States in foreign or security policy, trade and investment and people to people contact in the changing scenario.

Ethnicity, Security, and Separatism in India

Ethnicity, Security, and Separatism in India PDF

Author: Maya Chadda

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780231107372

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A hallmark of Indian politics, ethnic tension have escalated dramatically since the 1980s, endangering India's unity as a sovereign democracy. Although a succession of governments has attempted to resolve them, these conflicts have weakened India's role as the dominant power in the region. This work examines the connections between internal and external policy and explores the ways in which domestic tensions, particularly arising from ethnic and sectarian heterogenity, shape India's role in the region. The book studies movements in Punjab, Kashmir and Tamil Nadu, which escalated throughout the 1980s and influenced India's relations with Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It argues that India does not seek hegemony in South Asia; instead it acts to protect its nation-building efforts from similar problems faced by neighbouring countries. Paradoxically, this goal requires India to intervene in neighbouring countries ethnic conflicts.

MGR

MGR PDF

Author: R Kannan

Publisher: Penguin Random House India

Published: 2017-06-28

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 9386495880

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Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, or MGR-founder of the AIADMK founder and three-time chief minister, Bharat Ratna recipient-dominated Tamil Nadu's stratosphere for four decades. In this richly detailed biography of the man often called vathiyar or teacher, R. Kannan traces MGR's life from his early poverty-ridden years-a Class Three dropout-to his rise as a matinee idol, before becoming a politician of repute. He examines MGR's lifelong association with mentor Annadurai and other Dravidian cultural icons, and his tumultuous political friendship with Kalaignar Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, his cine heroine and political protégé. The book dissects MGR's years in power: His early administration, the legendary midday meal scheme launched in 1982 that fed 92 lakh schoolchildren, his well-intentioned farm subsidies and freebies that strained the exchequer, his largesse to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as well as his unabashed sponsorship of liquor barons and private medical and engineering colleges that aided the transformation of the state, but also fuelled corruption. Honest and insightful, MGR provides a portrait of a warm larger-than-life figure, whose legacy has left an indelible stamp on Dravidian politics.

Fighting Like a Guerrilla

Fighting Like a Guerrilla PDF

Author: Rajesh Rajagopalan

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2020-11-29

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1000084094

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This book deals with two significant issues: the peculiar and paradoxical question of why regular armies, better suited to fighting conventional high-intensity wars, adopt inappropriate measures when fighting guerilla wars; and the evolution of the Indian army’s counterinsurgency doctrine over the last decade. In addition, the book also includes the first detailed analysis of the trajectory of the army’s counterinsurgency doctrine, arguing that while it was consolidated only over the last decade, the essential elements of the doctrine may in fact be traced back to the army’s first confrontation with the Naga guerillas in the 1950s. It outlines the three essential elements that make up the Indian army’s counterinsurgency doctrine: that there are no military solutions to an insurgency; that military force can only help to reduce levels of violence to enable political solutions; and that there should be limited use of military force. Rajagopalan argues that international circumstances — particularly the need to counter conventional military threats from Pakistan and China — led to a counterinsurgency doctrine that had a strong conventional war bias. This bias also conditioned the organisational culture of the Indian army.

Sri Lanka and the Defeat of the LTTE

Sri Lanka and the Defeat of the LTTE PDF

Author: K M de Silva

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2012-10-01

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 8184757115

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In this comprehensive and authoritative study of terrorism in Sri Lanka, K.M. de Silva turns the spotlight on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its role in Sri Lanka’s upheavals over the last few decades. While tracing the emergence of this separatist group and the events that led to its recent collapse, de Silva also seeks to explore the complex relationship between the so-called moderates in Sri Lankan Tamil politics and the Tamil terrorist groups. What emerges is a layered portrait of the dynamics of Sri Lanka’s political system. Extensively researched and loaded with perceptive insights, Sri Lanka and the Defeat of the LTTE is the most wide-ranging analysis so far on the LTTE and its violent legacy.