It seems that when Madurai Veeran is depicted without his consorts, he is identified as “Veeranar”. He is always depicted with a sword and most often it is an aruval. This is Rajinikanth’s weapon of choice in Annaatthe in which he wields the aruval throughout. According to Karthikeyan Damodaran and Hugo Gorringe, this weapon has been identified as a signifier of caste (Thevar) pride in recent Tamil cinema and there is a genre known as the Madurai Formula film or the 3M film where the Ms are murder, mayhem and madurai. While Annaatthe does not quite fit with this genre, the prominence of the aruval in Annaatthe, and its symbolism, intended or otherwise, can not be ignored.
See also
Rajinikanth’s Political Entry
Thani Vazhi (தனி வழி)
Who is Kaala dada?
Who is Rajinikanth Dada?
Abhimanyu Sir
Thalaivaa!!
Yar Nee Ayah?
Kaala Karikaalan
A Post-Traditional Polity?
Rajinikanth Glows Saffron
Gaikwad cries Jai Bhim
Image: https://muniveeran.blogspot.com/2010/07/madurai-veeran-tamil-maturai-viran-lit.html
https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4359
The Koboi Project 
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