Madras Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema

This book documents the history of Tamil cinema, one of the most colossal film industries in the world. Tracing the continuing influence of the Madras studios in terms of narratives, genres and ideologies on Tamil cinema from the 1960s onwards, it engages with five major studios—Modern Theatres, AVM, Gemini, Vijaya-Vauhini, and Prasad—and examines how their history influenced the canonical films made in Madras studios.

Based on rare primary and secondary materials and oral history, it deals with the Tamil cinema at the intersection of its industrial, cultural and socio-political history to argue for its specificity in terms of its aesthetics and its belief in the potential of the medium to mobilize audiences for ideology, politics and reflexivity.