Cinema Paradiso

2000-Till Now

Politics and Cinema are inter-connected in Tamil civil society. Cinema’s ability to upset pre-existing cultural boundaries and to reallocate previously ghettoized cultural practices followed from the unprecedented ways in which it brought together the elites and the masses. The Tamil elite privileged realism as the governing principle of good cinema, but for the masses, it promised a dream that their heroes will one day take them to. The actors and actresses, who became mainstream rulers of the State made sure that everyone’s needs are met. I am trying to capture South India’s morality, gender, politics, violence, sexual fetishes, etc., through these photographs.