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 length of Rajinikanth’s career, with a focus on his “golden age” in the 1990s through to his established status as one of the most popular stars of Indian cinema, this book explores the trajectory of his screen image built up through call backs, repeated gags and recurring tropes over several decades. Meenaatchi Saverimuttu demonstrates how Rajinikanth’s films, in reflecting on the star’s cultural position on- and off-screen, contribute to the ever-evolving figure of the Tamil cinema star: a ‘paratext’ in their own right.

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 length of Rajinikanth’s career, with a focus on his “golden age” in the 1990s through to his established status as one of the most popular stars of Indian cinema, this book explores the trajectory of his screen image built up through call backs, repeated gags and recurring tropes over several decades. Meenaatchi Saverimuttu demonstrates how Rajinikanth’s films, in reflecting on the star’s cultural position on- and off-screen, contribute to the ever-evolving figure of the Tamil cinema star: a ‘paratext’ in their own right.