It is very difficult to attest to the conclusion arrived at by S.V. Srinivas in Megastar: Chiranjeevi and Telugu Cinema after N.T. Rama Rao. It goes: “Here, then, is a short description of Telugu cinema; it is a cinema in the Telugu language made with borrowed plots, for ten crore speakers of the language, by an industry that makes politicians because it cannot make profits.” But as a work on understanding Chiranjeevi, the latest of the superstars to enter politics, it is essential reading. Srinivas has managed to secure interviews with Chiranjeevi and considerable access to his producer, close associate and brother-in-law Allu Aravind.

In his diligent study of Chiranjeevi, his film career and his morphing into a political being, Srinivas looks at various aspects not only of Telugu cinema, but also of the NTR phenomenon, aspects of Tamil cinema and the fascinating presence of fan clubs. It is an analysis of “mass film” as opposed to “class film”.

A chapter, “Whistling Fans and Conditional Loyalty”, is a comprehensive study of fan clubs (a uniquely south Indian, male preserve) and their origins in Tamil Nadu. Srinivas cites the beginnings of organised fan activity in 1953, when the first club was formed for M.G. Ramachandran. It was the year MGR left the Congress to join the DMK. While discussing the fan’s devotion for the star, Srinivas discusses the phenomenon of the South Indian Hero who never dies in the last scene of any plot, and plots being tailor-made for him to survive. There is a mention of an apocryphal story of how MGR wanted to make a film on the Bible, and was actually considering changing the end — fighting back instead of getting crucified. Tales of fan clubs and the role they played in building up the tempo behind the Chiranjeevi myth are discussed in detail when Srinivas talks of the magazine Megastar Chiranjeevi, which, according to its publisher, Aravind, was the first official fan magazine in Andhra Pradesh.

... contd.