The Koboi Project is a photo-performative instantiation of identity across the discontinuities of a multi-generational diasporic experience.
Superstar Rajinikanth is reunited with stars Meena (Muthu, 1995) and Khushboo (Mannan 1992) in a rocking dance track titled Marudhaani for the upcoming film Annaatthe. Music composed D Imman and sung by Nakash Aziz. What a thrill!
See also
The Boss is Back 2
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
The late great SP Balasubramaniam’s last recorded vocal graces Superstar Rajinikanth upcoming film release Annatthee. The song is which is titled Annatthee Annatthee after the the film, seems to usher in a rousing return to the rustic rural styling that the Superstar brand is founded on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK6dUrfYx84&ab_channel=SunTV
See also
The Boss is Back 2
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
In this clip from the second single from Annatthee titled Saara Kaatrae, Rajinikanth gambols along like a happy teenager … joyous and free, unburdened, perhaps, of political his ambitions and responsibilities!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0LM8sDR-Ng&ab_channel=SunTV
See also
The Boss is Back 2
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
The teaser is out … more righteous vengeance in the Superstar’s idiom … but how does it play to the masses (Mass-u) now that he has opted out of Tamil Nadu politics? Is he now just an empty signifier … drifting aimlessly without the gravitas of the promise of a political entry? Has the wind been taken out of his sail (sales)?. the financials suggest that this may be so … but only the box-office will tell for certain. I for will buy a ticket!
Related Posts –
Makkal Sevai Katchi!
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
Rajinikanth Superstar’s 168th film Annaatthe will be released by Sun Pictures on 4th of November 2021. This will be his first release in recent years for which there is no underlying political connotation.
Image: https://www.newsbugz.com/annaatthe-teaser-2021/
In the sixteenth State legislative assembly elections of Tamil Nadu held on the 6th April 2021, the DMK won the majority of seats and its president M K Stalin, son of previous Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M. Karunanithi, will reportedly be sworn-in as the Chief Minister on May 7.
When Superstar Rajinikanth dropped out of of Tamil Nadu politics in December 2020 on the basis of ill health, he was in effect, acknowledging the impossibility of religious politics in Tamil Nadu. It seems that neither his spiritual politics nor the BJP’s Hindutva, for which he was allegedly a proxy, had a chance of victory in the political milieu of the South.
In the meme pictured above, Rajinikanth’s visage in a still form the Mani Ratnam film Thalapathy has been replaced by that of MK Stalin. This meme also presents Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in the place of Mammooty, who plays Rajinikanth’s friend in the 1991 film.
Both the Dravidian MK Stalin and the Communist Pinarayi Vijayan are avowed atheists.
https://twitter.com/umasudhir/status/1388873470662955013
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/rajinikanth-opts-out-of-political-entry-citing-health-covid/article33443627.ece
https://www.timesnownews.com/india/tamil-nadu/article/dmk-chief-mk-stalin-stakes-claim-to-form-govt-in-tamil-nadu-after-stupendous-victory-in-2021-assembly-polls/753051
https://www.thequint.com/news/politics/rajinikanth-politics-periyar-bjp-rss-gurumurthy-tamil-nadu-elections-2021
.
After decades of anticipation in the Tamil Nadu polity, SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth announced his entry into politics on December 31st 2017. Despite much toing and froing, he never did launch his party and then, on December 29th 2020, he announced with finality that he would not enter politics. For those of us who admire his charisma and spirituality but disdain the Hindutva politics he seemed set to bring into Tamil Nadu by virtue of his patent alignment with the BJP, this is a happy outcome! Thailava Valha! (Salutations to the Leader!)
Related Posts –
Makkal Sevai Katchi!
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
The above image from the series was shot at the Singapore Art Museum. It was shot during a performance at the site of my photographic installation which was part of the Singapore Biennale 2016. It is one of 12 images that make up the upcoming Kiasu Cowboys Series of the Koboi Project.
The Election Commission of Tamil Nadu has allotted the “Auto-rickshaw” symbol to a newly registered party called ‘Makkal Sevai Katchi,’ (MSK) which is, according to Outlook, believed to be the party floated by Tamil SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth to contest in the 2021 Tamil Nadu State Assembly elections. The article cites the lyrics Autokkaaran, autokkaaran, naalum therijna rootukkaaran (I am an auto-driver who knows all the ways) from the introductory song from his blockbuster film “Baasha” (1995).
Related Posts –
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
The above image from the series was shot in Nishi-kasai , Tokyo as a part of the Momotaro San series of the Koboi Project. This work encapsulates a performance which was hosted at the Courtyard Hiroo Gallery, Tokyo on 11th May 2018 as part of ‘Home’ in the Expanded Field.’ It explores an intersection of Indian and Japanese symbols through interactions with the visionary film critic and promoter Fumio Furuya (a.k.a Jun Edoki) and Hiroyoshi Takeda who is an artist, chef (Masalawala) and Rajinikanth fan of great renown.
The Melaka Gateway Project is cancelled again! According to the Edge Markets, the Melaka state government terminated their RM43 billion contract with KAJ Development Sdn Bhd. The Edge notes that this mega project had been cancelled before. In 2018, KAJ Development’ had their licence to operate the port and terminal revoked by the Federal Ministry of Transport, to be reinstated in 2019, following court proceedings. Curiouser than Alice’s Wonderland, FMT reports that Melaka Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali has, even after this second cancellation, pledged to continue the project, thereby providing the circumstances under which the project might be canceled yet again!
The Melaka Chief Minister is reported to have indicated that the project now falls under the state’s new economic corridor called the Melaka Waterfront Economic Zone. Sulaiman is supposed to have said, “The development will continue, but we have some technical issues that we need to fix,” which might be read as a criticism of KAJ Development. The Melaka Waterfront Economic Zone or M-WEZ which was announced on the 10th of October 2020 refers to a 15,000-acre sea reclamation area running from Umbai to Tanjung Bruas. This 22km stretch includes the area covered by the Melaka Gateway land reclamation.
Related Posts –
Melaka Gateway Update
Silting-up the Settlement 3
Silting-up the Settlement 2
Silting Up the Settlement 1
Kristang Protest
Portugues Antigo
Portuguese/ Malay Fusion
Jingkli Nona
The above image from the Kaza Nunteng Porta series was shot in the Portuguese Settlement, Melaka. I made my way out onto a rickety fishing jetty to raise my Rajinikanth flag with the Melaka Gateway development behind me, obscuring the horizon as well as the fishermen’s access to the sea. The rest of the series was shot in Belem, Lisbon at the sites of two monuments, one of which includes the depiction of the fall of Melaka to Alfonso de Albuquerque.
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/frankly-speaking-melaka-gateway-project-axed-again
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/melaka-develop-new-economic-corridor-will-be-game-changer
According to Nikkei Asia staff writer Kiran Sharma Rajinikanth said on the 3rd of December that he will formally announce the launching of his party to compete in the Tamil Nadu state elections on Dec. 31, 2021. This leaves a very short lead time to the start of voting which begins in April 2021. The SUPERSTAR is reported to have said “It’s now or never.” Indeed, time is of the essence! As D Govadran observes in the Times of India, his fans and followers have been waiting for over 24 years.
Related Posts –
Who is Kaala dada?
Who is Rajinikanth Dada?
Rajinikanth Glows Saffron
Gaikwad cries Jai Bhim
Abhimanyu Sir
A Post-Traditional Polity?
Yar Nee Ayah?
In the above image from the Momotaro San series, Takedawala meets Koboi Balik Kampung in Shinjuku! I was privileged to be collaborating with Takedawala (Hiroyoshi Takeda) who is an artist, a South Indian chef, and a renown Rajinikanth fan. With his support the performance included an Auto-rickshaw as well as Mango Pachadi Dango, a Japanese dumpling with a South Indian filling, that was especially conceived and developed for this performance.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Indian-superstar-Rajinikanth-steps-up-to-political-stage
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/rajini-finally-in-politics-promises-miracles/articleshow/79557182.cms
The Koboi Project 
You must be logged in to post a comment.