M.S.S Pandian - The Image Trap

[This] is by far the most convincing study of the subjectThe book is a work of sound scholarship and will no doubt lure researchers to this fascinating field of popular culture and politics. Pandian has offered a splendid model. The added attractions in the book are an exhaustive bibliography and a complete filmography of MGR, which includes films like Thasipenn (1943), invariably omitted in such lists.

S. Theodore Bhaskaran, The Hindu

M.S.S. Pandian's The Image Trap is a lively, concerned essay in understanding the influence exercised by M.G. Ramachandran [MGR] on a fan following consisting in substantial part of the Tamil poor.

Ravi Vasudevan, The Indian Economic and Social History Review

In the Indian subaltern studies tradition, this work of critical social history is recommended to all students of south India.

Glenn Yocum, Religious Studies Review

Pandian nevertheless provides a fascinating and revealing analysis if M.G.R. in film and the filmy politics in Tamil Nadu.

Robert L. Hardgrave Jr, Pacific Affairs

it is a bold endeavour for the reason that (the author) has focused his study on the late M.G. RamachandranIt is not a study just in the techniques of image building but he also brings out fairly successfully the interface and interplay between the media and political processesThe moral of the story is not written at the end of the bookBut it is explicit in the very title of the book. An image could be a trap, beware of it.

P.D. Kulkarni, Social Change

Written in a very lucid style, [it] is a must for all interested in understanding Tamil Nadu politics.

Kushal Deb, Social Action

Far from being a mere panegyric to a vanished film superhero and idol of the masses, this volume is another well published book from SAGE, succinct and to the pointThe book is full of fascinating details about the extent to which MGR was successful in creating this image and of what repercussions it had. The Image Trap is a useful book for both students of Indian politics and Indian cinema and a welcome addition to the literature on the connection between image and voter behaviour.

R.S. Newman, South Asia

[It] is an interesting attempt in trying to resolve this puzzle [of MGR's unparalleled political success].

Sushila Ravindranath, Seminar

[Pandian's] book is unconventional in style and organization, a blend of essay-writing, political rhetoric, and scholarship. It is a lively study that should interest all students of contemporary Indian politics.

Pamela G. Price, The Journal of Asian Studies

The author's writing style makes the book an enjoyable reading even for a lay reader without sacrificing the references, footnotes, and documentation that academic readers look for. Pandian has the academic credentials and proximity to the theme in writing The Image Trap.

S. Sreenivas Rao, Vikalpa

In the absence of any worthwhile work on the Tamil phenomenon, who strode the film industry and the state political arena like a colossus for over two decades, Pandian's is a seminal contribution. It has attempted to see MGR in a meaningful way, neither glorifying him nor denigrating him.

P.K. Balachandran, The Sunday Observer

Pandian's book is exhaustive, in spite of its slim 145-page stretch. There is a delightful bibliography, and an exhaustive filmography to go with itit makes gripping reading too.

L. Narayanan, The Hindustan Times

But despite the familiarity of the ground covered, the terrain is still interesting, especially at a time when established political parties turn increasing(ly) to actors and actresses in the hope that their screen images will bring the votes home.

Ranjana Sengupta, The Times of India

The Image Trap

Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property. The logical result of fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life. The violation of the masses, whom fascism, with its Fhrer cult, forces to their knees, has its counterpart in the violation of an apparatus which is pressed into the production of ritual values.

Walter Benjamin

The Image Trap

M.G. Ramachandran in Film and Politics

M.S.S. Pandian

Copyright M.S.S. Pandian, 1992, 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First published in 1992
Reissued in 2015 by

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