The Boss is Back 16

November 15, 2021November 17, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

After 12 days, Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe has grossed 2,250,000,000 Rupees (30,204,000.00 USD) 5 at the box-office. This despite the film receiving almost universally dreadful reviews. I myself, despite being an eager Superstar fan, found the film dreadfully loud, sentimental, violent and unconvincing. In spite of excellent parts, not least of which is Thalaivar’s reunion with Kushbu and Meena, it just does not pull together as a whole. The Times of India review gives the film 2/5 stars and is titled, “Even Rajinikanth cannot save badly written Annaaatthe.” Well it looks like they were completely wrong. The Superstar, it seems, has saved the film single-handedly!

What is it about Rajinikanth that enables him to draw the faithful even as a 70 year-old playing his signature super cool and superhumanly heroic character? Does the answer lie in his indubitably unique persona and ability to connect with the masses? Or does it lie in the Tamilian culture of adulation, veneration and deification of exemplars, and the ease with which Tamils nominate living culture heroes !

Image: https://www.rfi.fr/en/business-and-tech/20211105-covid-hit-india-cinemas-bet-on-delayed-blockbusters-to-revive-crowds

https://www.msn.com/en-in/entertainment/southcinema/annaatthe-box-office-collection-day-12-rajinikanth-starrer-earns-rs-225-crore/ar-AAQKKXo

The Boss is Back 14

November 10, 2021November 10, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

The screening of a new Rajinikanth film (there have been 168 to date) always brings to mind the Tamilian (Hindu) notion of divinity – that God is everywhere and in everything. This immanent deity has two significant implications. In deep metaphysical terms it means that knowing or experiencing the attendant reality requires a transcendence of the egoistic self and recognizing the unity of all consciousnesses in one consciousness. This unification or oneness of the divinity is, counterintuitive as it might seem, analogous to the Islamic notion of Tawhid. On more mundane egocentric level, however, this immanence means that Tamilians might choose to designate any one of the innumerable parts. of the ubiquitous divinity, as the bearer of the presence of the whole. While some might deem this to be idolatrous or, in Islamic terms, Shirik. for Tamils separate parts of the divinity, ranging from rocks and trees to consecrated icons, can each stand for the whole. It is this synecdochic ontology that allow Tamilians to turn, the adulation of public figures into a form of worship. While this deification of living people, ranging from gurus to politicians, is widespread it is the ritualistic offerings made to movie SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth at the opening of his films that epitomizes of this phenomena in contemporary Tamil culture.

Image: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/variety/superstar-rajinikanth-starrer-annaatthe-releases/article37334723.ece

The Boss is Back 13

November 7, 2021November 7, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

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.

The Boss is Back 12

November 6, 2021November 7, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

In a Rajinikanth movie the star always plays two roles simultaneously, that of the particular character of the present movie and that of the transcendent Superstar. There is a layered semiotics in which, while the character is signified within the narrative realm, the Superstar is always indexed at a higher order signification. In the recently released film, Annaatthe this layering of the lead character Kaliyan and the Superstar, brought into high relief by the co-presence two of his former leading ladies, Meena (Muthu, 1995) and Khushboo (Mannan 1992), is complicated by the iconography of theGrama Deivam (village guardian) Madurai Veeran. If Kaliyan’s love interest is Pattu, played by Nayanthara, the Superstar’s true consorts in Annaatthe are Meena and Kushbu, both! This polygamous imagery derives, no doubt from deep Tamil tradition -Madurai Veeran is always depicted with his two consorts Vellaiammal and Bommi.

Image: https://www.indiaglitz.com/superstar-rajinikanth-annaatthe-theatrical-rights-annaatthe-diwali-release-red-giant-movies-udhayanidhi-stalin-sun-pictures-nayanthara-keerthy-suresh-news-299287

The Boss is Back 11

October 31, 2021October 31, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

The tutelary deity featured in Rajinikanth’s upcoming film Annaatthe is the Grama Deivam (village guardian) Madurai Veeran. Throughout the trailer the Superstar wields the aruval, a south Indian billhook (a cross between a sickle and a machete), which is a weapon in the iconography of Madurai Veeran. According to Preethi Zachariah the aruval is used to clear fields, collect firewood, to crack coconuts, and also in the worship of other Kaval Deivam (tutelary deities) like Karuppu Swamy and Ayyanar.

As happyhi n du notes, Madurai Veeran is worshipped in an agricultural context “to ward off disasters affecting crops, cattle, and illnesses.” He is the protector of agricultural people and their lands as, it seems, is Kalaiayyan, Rajinikanth’s avatar in Annaatthe, who rides “a Royal Enfield bike, wearing a helmet and earphones, an aruval dangling from the bike.”

Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyVX8g71TGo&ab_channel=SunTV
https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/big-story/is-the-thiruppachethi-aruval-a-tool-or-a-weapon-111633679832798.html
https://www.tamilbrahmins.com/members/happyhindu.3407/

The Boss is Back 7

October 24, 2021October 26, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

Vaa Saamy is the 4th single released from the Annaatthe soundtrack.As observed in Film Beat “The Vaa Saamy song hints that Annaatthe will not just revolve around the family man avatar of the Annaatthe, but also features him as an action hero.” The clips featured in the video release are indeed stylishly violent in the Superstars’s signature style but what can it signify in the aftermath of his anti-climactic political non-entry? After the powerful social reform symbolism of his his roles Kabali and Kaala by Pa Ranjith, the violence in the following releases, Petta and Darbar seemed a little gratuitous. Now, in Annaatthe, the Superstar’s first release after the reneging of his promise to enter the Tamil Nadu political arena, one wonders what his avenging avatar might signify!. While I expect to be disappointed at the deepest connotative level, I still look forward to enjoying the incomparable denotations, detonations even, of his incomparable stylistics. … Vaa Saamy!!!

https://www.filmibeat.com/tamil/news/2021/annaatthe-rajinikanth-s-fierce-avatar-in-vaa-saamy-song-wins-the-internet-323333.html

The Boss is Back 5

October 17, 2021October 17, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

#Annaatthe aaduna kondattam kondattam dhan 🔥

Neenga aada ready ah? Recreate Superstar’s dance in #AnnaattheAnnaatthe!@rajinikanth @directorsiva #SPBalasubrahmanyam @immancomposer #AnnaattheFirstSingle pic.twitter.com/EECDpQB76F
— Sun Pictures (@sunpictures) October 5, 2021

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 3

October 16, 2021October 17, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

In his latest film Annaatthe, Superstar Rajinikanth goes back to his rustic roots with his righteous thuggery – “So far you had only seen the good side of a villager. Now you will see his wrath.”…

https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment /entertainment-news/2021/10/15/annaatthe-teaser-rajinikanth-back-with-thalaivar-swag.html

See also

The Boss is Back 2

October 15, 2021October 28, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

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!

Keling Pariah 4

April 29, 2021April 29, 2021 ~ The Koboi Project

Pa. Ranjith is the director I admire the most in mainstream Tamil Cinema. His ability to infuse this commercial medium with the messaging of an ascendant Dalit consciousness, as he did in Kabali and Kaala, while maintaining box-office success, is astounding. Ranjith is a fearless activist and provocateur. Ranjith hails from a cheri (ghetto) in Karalapakkam, Tamil Nadu and, according to wikipedia, he is from the Paraiyar community.

Pariah has become a slur and a derisive word in English and in Malay and Indians get upset and enraged when they hear this word. Why? Well, this name comes from the cast order that is Indian and Hindu. Attitudes towards it reflect the worst racial prejudice that is innate to Indian culture. The Pariyar are a community that is categorized as outside of the Brahmanical social order. While I deplore the use of the name of this community as a slur in English and Malay, I suggest that it is more important that Indians stop flinching when they hear this word, as that reaction comes from their own racist impulse.

https://www.firstpost.com/india/india-and-the-indian-i-hope-my-daughter-inherits-a-country-unbound-by-caste-lingustic-strictures-writes-pa-ranjith-6839771.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraiyar

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