Cut-outs Caste and Cines Stars

A must for [anyone] who wants to understand Tamil Nadu politics' -New Indian Express Tamil Nadu is a state very different from the rest of India both culturally and historically. It has retained a fundamentally separate identity for itself in language and caste structure and this is most evident in its politics. Cut-outs Caste and Cine Stars The Word of Tamil Politics tells a political story that has all the elements of a blockbuster film where ironies and larger-than-life characters abound Periyar a Kannada-speaker who introduced the notions of Tamil self-respect and regional pride yet dismissed Tamil as 'a barbaric language' the matinee idol MGR a Malayalee born in Sri Lanka who became Tamil Nadu's most popular mass leader the Dravidian movement which by its own ideology should have helped the Dalits but has instead supported only the upwardly mobile middle groups and parties that rose to power by propagating anti-Hindi and anti-Brahmin sentiments but have now allied themselves with the BJP. It is fitting that this reel-like scenario is presently dominated by the electoral politics of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa one a scriptwriter and the other a former actress. Well-known writer and journalist Vaasanthi has observed the dramatis personae in this epic drama at close quarters for a decade. Now updated with an additional chapter on the war of succession Cut-outs Caste and Cine Stars offers an objective and insightful view of a political world that is both fascinating and perplexing.