Folio

In

Fans:

The Curious Case

of the Man from Japan

Lawrence Liang
All photographs courtesy the author

A scholarly pursuit of the fan club phenomenon led Lawrence Liang to the street
of Bangalore, in 2005, where a mighty army of fans of the film-star Rajinikant
was preparing to celebrate the release of his latest film Chandramukhi. As cine
ma conquered reality, Liang found it increasingly difficult to retain his autonom
and maintain a professional distance. On on impulse, he decided to abandon th
notebook and embrace the new role that had been suddenly thrust upon hi
move hovering on the brink of perilous discovery, as he was to soon find out.

FollOWing Fans - Lawrenc

o there 1 was on a mandap,

seated on a large, ornate chair

the cinema-watchl1lg public, and that

most historical and contemporary

identities. Most members of the

(the kind used by newly-wed

debates on film spectatorship in India

Rajinikanth fan clubs were youn

corporator and a religious pontiff, a

constantly condemn the unruly and

excessive behaviour of fans and

conditions in the informal sector ~

massive garland of flowers around my

relegate it to a non-public space. His

couples on stage) between the local

burden of mobilising migrant

working in precarious labour

auto rickshaw drivers, mechamcs.
waiters and so on.

neck, waving at over 5,000

work on Chiranjeevi fans sought to

Rajinikanth fans assembled at the Rai

determine the political history of fan

Bahadur Arcot Narrainsawmy

clubs by examining how the star was

Around the same time I was also

Mudaliar School (RBANMS) ground

the focal point for the mobilisation of

interested in the histories of diffe

in Ulsoor, Bangalore, with a single

various subaltern groups, and how

cinematic spaces in the city, how

thought running through my head:

cinema constituted an important

different kinds of public congregan

"How did I get myself into this and

mode through which people asserted

around a Rajinikanth film, and

how am I ever going to get out of itt

their claims over the public sphere.

the differences were between a 5n

wI

Balaji theatre in Neelsandra ~md

I found his argument compelling but

Naga theatre in Ulsoor. So, ;lrmc

was also curious to see how it would

with my questions, a came' 1 :md

Rajinikanth's film Chandramukhi

hold up in the context of Bangalore, a

notebook I started tracking rileS

(2005) was slated for release just a few

city with a history of linguistic

spaces and talking to fans in the r

weeks after I had finished reading S.v.

diversity, bur which had also witnessed

up to the release of Chandramukl

Srinivas' seminal book on fan clubs of

a rise in an aggressive form of

was joined by my colleagues Nal1U

the film-star Chiranjeevi in Andhra

linguistic sub-nationalism. Tensions

and Shailesh on the day of the

Pradesh. Enthused by the direction

between the Tamil and Kannadiga

premiere. Besides the buzz that

that his work was taking film studies

populations erupted every once in a

usually accompanies the releas

Flashback to March 2005

.In

in India to, I decided that it might be

while over the sharing of the river

Rajinikanth film there were great

fun to come up with a few of my own

Cauvery's waters, as well as over the

expectations from Chandramukhl

questions and follow the activities of

perceived threat posed by the strong

the previous Rajinikanth-starrer B.:l~

the Rajinikanth fan clubs in Bangalore.

presence of Tamil films in the city. It

(2002)-which many had speculat:~J

Srinivas' book on fan clubs begins

seemed to me that unlike the

would launch his political carcer-l1.l

with a fundamental question: What is

Chiranjeevi fan clubs within Andhra

been a surprise flop at the box office

the nature of the public sphere

Pradesh, which primarily addressed

Rajinikallth had gone on record t

constituted by cinema~ Given the

the question of local politics, the fan

clubs of stars such as Rajinik:lnrh and
Kamal Haasan in states orh~'r,dl:ln
Tamil Nadu carried the addJ":io:l.ll

that after the release of his next filnl

pervasive publicness of cinema,

Srinivas finds it curious that classical
accounts of the public sphere ignore

stn

he would compensate all the

distributors of Baba who had sufferd
losses. The date that had been sclccrc

ArtConnect: The IFA Maga<:.ine, Volume 7, Number 1

for the release of Chandramuk/lj was

significant also because it was the very
day on which Kamal Haasan's self
produced film Mumbai Express (2005)
was being released, and while the two
stars may have had some fans in
common, fan clubs are usually
competitive and antagonistic,
especially when it's a question of
which star occupies more public space.
In Ulsoor, Kamal Haasan's film was to
be released in Ajanta theatre, which
was less than 250 metres from Naga
theatre, the venue of Rajinikanth's
film.
Ulsoor has traditionally been a Tamil
dominated locality. Its history is linked
to that of the Tamil migrant labourers
whom the British brought to
Bangalore in the early nineteenth
century when they demarcated the
Cantonment region from Old
Bangalore. A number of the street
names and prominent buildings testify
to the Tamil character of this
neighbourhood. The Tamil Sangam
has its office opposite the Ulsoor
Lake. On the road skirting the lake
and less than 100 metres from Ajanta
theatre is a statue that testifies to the
history of the linguistic and ethnic
contestation between pro- Kannada
groups and Tamils. This statue, a little
under three feet high, is of the

Following Fans - Lawrence L

poet-saint Thiruvalluvar, the author

of the n,irukkl/rll1.: who is often
regarded as a symbol of Tamil identit\
In 1991, after the statue had been
erected, various pro-Kannada groups
protested. The statue was veiled and a
police van permanently posted at the
venue to protect it from vandalism.
The measure of this little statue's
symbolism can be gauged by the fact
rhat when the (Tamil) sandalwood
smuggler Veerappan kidnapped the
matinee idol Rajkumar-one of the
leading figures of the Kannada public
sphere-one of the ransom demands
he had made was that the statue be
unveiled. Riots had erupted after the
news of the kidnapping and the Tamil
community had borne the brunt of
the mob violence.
The covered statue also inspired
anonymous graffiti that would appear
around every birth anniversary of
Thiruvalluvar, especially in Ulsoor and
the Cantonment area. Most of these
were straightforward political appeals
such as "CM [Chief Minister] Unveil
Statue of Saint God Thiruvalluvar"
but sometimes they amusingly
referred to current events, as in "First
read the Holy Thirukkural. Then read
The Da Vinci Code". The statue was
finally unveiled, after a High Court
order in 2009, by the then Chief

Minister of Tamil Nadu M.

Karunanidhi, who was himself a
symbol of the marriage of film and
politics in south India. A number of
leaders of the Karnataka Rakshana
Vedike (Karnataka Protection Forum)
had been taken under preventive
detention before the unveiling
ceremony, and over 4,000 security
personnel shared space with members
of the Tamil Sangam and various fan
clubs during the unveiling ceremony
which was thinly attended since many
feared it would spark off violence.
M. Madhava Prasad, in an important
rethinking of the relationship between
>
cinema and politics in south India,
suggests that scholars who attempt to
explain tilL l.int'l11.1tic basis of politics
often have .111 Instrlltl1CnL\

understanding of cinema-as a carri

of political messages to the masses
This model ignores the specificity of
cinema as a representational mew UJ
in which the star on the screen is no
just a figure of glamour but also
invested with the ability to represenr
the identities and aspirations of a
particular linguistic community-in
making. The star in south Indian
cinema is thus a vehicle through
a new kind of patriarchal figure
emerges, and upon whom rests a
burden of political and mOl'a1 re
tation of a linguistic community.
this formulation there ca'1 be 11
division between text and oot
Prasad offers us a new term ell
politics-which allows us to vicw -:-1
realm of politics and cinema not a, .
separate bur as necessarily conjoined
concepts that allow us to better
understand why certain star-fan
relatiolls emerge specifically in south
India, which are distinguishable fro
generic fan-devotional activity din,-,
towards a pan-national star such as
Amitabh Bachchan. According to
Prasad:
Cine-politics is not about the
infusion of star charisma into
electoral politics. nor about th
use of cinenu to disseminate
party slogans. It is a distinct fum

Following Fans - LawrenC<" L

of pU!iti,-al engagement that

emerged

If!

s()me of the

linguistically defined states of

southern India at a certain

Srinivas' and Prasad's works attempt!

to understand fan activity in rdatlll
a larger understanding of polit1("
may also be useful to see such act'

to

rh

historical juncture where Indian

nationalism's ideological suturing

question of politics or claims of

could not take care of certain

identity. Of equal importance for Ine

gaps in the symbolic chain. A set

would be how fan activity allows for

in ways that are not subsumed by

of contingent factors led to a

an expressivity of the body and

situation where cinema, a form

temporal experience. What does it

of entertainment that was then

mean for a fan to come out to

learning to speak, came to be

celebrate the release of his star's fll

chosen as the site of a strong

What forms of connectivity to

political investment, where

different planes of life does a

audiences responded with

celebration allow~ WI1.lt ~orms

enthusiasm to an offer of

are vitalised by a passion r

leadership emanating from the

investment in the success of a fiI

screen and, through the fan

which one owns by virtue or one'

associations that emerged later,

affective investment in the star~ \Vh

established a concrete set of

does an enthusiastic dance acdvatc fo

everyday practices that re

other bodies~

affirmed the position of the star

as leader.'

A Corporeal Cinephilia

Extending Prasad's argument, one

Walking through Neelasandra and

could describe the relation between

Ulsoor, one could almost sense a

fans and stars in terms of affective

palpable passion hovering in the aJ I,

affinities in which the transaction

if one were witnessing not just a ki 11

between the star and the fan is

of cinephilia-a word primaril}'

measured via the currency of passion,

reserved for a visual experience-bu

corporeal cinephilia which impJjcat,,{

enthusiasm and commitment. I use

the phrase with a nod to Goethe's idea
of elective affinities, which attempts to
characterise form" .,f attraetillllS in
natural and so. !a1 [! !:trion!>. While

all the senses and transformed eve I

aspect of public space. Almost cveIJ

inch of St Johns Road, from Naga
theatre leading up to the RBANM ~

Fallnll"ng

huge crowds waiting expectantly

outside the hall. although the show
would begin only at 12.30 p.m. Those
fortunate enough to have a ticket

tile

most was

looked pleasantly smug but they

sympathised with those trying
desperately to buy a ticket. Rumours

that of a black and white photocopied

A4-size sheer of paper with the image
of a young man posing stylishly for
what seemed like a srudio picture.
Raja (a fan of the Rajinikanth film
Basha, as the sheet informed us) wore

of the going rates of black-market

sunglasses, held a mobile phone in one

tickets circulated slightly faster than

hand and had the other hand in his

share prices in a stock exchange, but

pocket. Morphed images of

Rajinikanth surrounded his own. He

there were no bears to be found in this

ground, had been covered with

image thar struck me

FaIlS - [.1111

ren,

.! ,J

occupy public space suddenly cn

dances, claiming their share of
publicity, and anonymous faces aF,
in pamphlets otherwise reserved t..
'missing persons' announcements
literally bodying forth an ephemc
presence. But what did the appcu
and disappearance of this pres
mean? The pamphlet would dj~
in a few days, as would the gJ
collage on the theatre's fa~ade b
the duration of their existence I"h

bazaar of devotion. When I asked

had innovatively stuck his little

people how much a ticket would cost

'in black' I was first told that I could

pamphlet above the more glamorous

posters and it rode on the wave of not

secure a front stall ticket for around

Rs 3,000. As if that wasn't impressive

just the star but of other fans as well.

enough, another person clarified in a

There was something strangely

KajriJain's work on calendar art

somewhat indignant tone that the

effective and touching about Raja's

provides us with a useful

information was inaccurate, that that

strategy. If most of the posters invited

thinking about ontology as dural

was the rate the previous evening, and

the attention of the public through the

Tracing the different circuits of \

that by now it was Rs 5,000 for the

logic of the spectacle. limited resources

embodied in bazaar images of god S,

she suggests that while these image"
which are cheap reproductions

front stall and Rs 10,000 for the

had necessitated an aesthetic

balcony; he even offered to help me

innovation that nonetheless enjoyed

get a ticket if I were interested. There

vicarious success. This led me to think

had been transformed, and they J

also transformed the space they
inhabited.

W,l}

of

occupy the space of low art, they

simultaneously gain great ethical

was, of course, no way of verifying this

of the relation between vicariousness

posters, banners, pamphlets and flags

information without significantly

and fan activiry. In legal theory,

bearing images of Rajinikanth and of

denting my less-than-impressive

vicarious liability is a concept that

his fans as well. The fa~ade of Naga

wallet.

assigns liability to persons even if they

are not necessarily the agents of an

an account of the value of these

action; thus an employer may be held

to be vicariously liable for the actions
of his employees. Fan activity, with its
forging of affective affinities wilIJ the
star, appeared to allow for til'" ,',\:\'rcise
of a c~rtain vicarious sovcr.'!,nL.Y of

between the image, other bodies or

theatre had been obscured by a

massive collage of Rajinikanth posters
that provided us with a virtual tour
through his career; the collage seemed
to be as much of an attraction as the
film itself.
Right through the l11~)rnillg there were

I decided to focus instead on speaking

to people and documenting the variet
of signage on the road. An auto
rickshaw driver showed me a fresh
tattoo of Rajinikanth's name on his
hand, while many others showed me
watches with his images. But the. one

\',11

as religious objects, By focusing on

their circulation one is able to pro... IJ'
objects

<11' "fleeting

LOnstcllations

objects, and the qualit,', rhythm :tn

intensity of time at a given moment
It seemed here that 111 contrast to th
idea of a given rime in which the
hands of the c111ck move ceaseless!)
dictate the rhythms of work and

ArtConnect: The IFA Magaz;,ine. Volume 7. Number

body at work, what fan activity

allowed for was a celebratory time in
which vicarious sovereignty served as a
way of determining one's 'time pass:
As I walked towards the RBANMS
ground where a major rally was to
culminate, I should have intuited the
adventure that was in store for me.
The procession itself was a spectacular
carnival with over a hundred Tempo
vans carrying cutouts of Rajinikanth
making their way slowly through the
streets of Ulsoor. The procession was
led by a motley crew of acrobats,
drummers dressed in leopard skins,
and a brass band playing the star's
greatest hits. The music was infectious
and very soon everyone including me
was swaying to it as we walked along
with the procession. The persona of a
visible outsider who could even have
been a foreigner partaking in the
festivities for Rajinikanth is not the
ideal one for an aspirational fly-on
the-wall ethnographer to adopt, and I
was very soon the object of curiosity
for a number of people.
It started innocuously enough with
many of the fans asking me about
what I was doing and why I was
interested in Rajinikanth. I tried
explaining my general research interest
and talked abollt growing up

FolloUling Fans - Lawrence I..i

surrounded by R:ljinikanth and

Kamal Haasan posters in the
Shivajinagar area. The conversation
then steered towards my ethnicity and
I had a slightly more difficult time
explaining my Indian-Chinese origin
and how it had little to do with my
interest in Rajinikanth. By this time
the handful of people around me had
grown into a larger group and I could
hear people whispering"Japanese
Japanese" in the background. I
mumbled something about not being
Japanese and attempted to slip away
since I was worried that the
procession was getting far ahead of us
and we would miss the programme.
After a series of handshakes and hugs

that I had no clue. :lI\d I don't know

what it was that prompted me to
answer, "Yes, we love Rajinikanth very
much:' Perhaps I just went with the
flow, or maybe it was my natural
inclination towards being a prankster,
or just a pragmatic surrender to the
idea that it was easier to answer these
questions than to explain my
participation in the celebration. At any
rate my answer only led to further
questions: Which is Rajinikanth's
most popular film in Japan? Do only
boys like Rajinikanth or girls too?

apparently carried a story that da}

claiming that many Japanese fans 11
flown down from Tokyo to catch th
premiere of Chandramukhi in ChCM
Soon I was posing for photograph~'
with various fan clubs and a
Rajinikanth flag was draped aroul
me. The fact that I didn't sound
Japanese, that my English was d ..
inflected with a Bangalore accent, Or
that I spoke Hindi and even
understood a smattering of Tamil
didn't matter. The idea that I was
Japanese fan from Tokyo seemed f
more important than the trivial rna
of veracity. Phone calls were being

Going With the Flow

Will Rajinikanth ever act in a Japanese

film? Do Japanese fans dance in the
hall when a song plays? Which was
my favourite Rajinikanth film? I
discovered that the only correct
answer to the last question was
Padiyappa (1999) after I was gently
admonished for placing Basha (1995)
above Padiyappa. But by this time
there was no turning back, and like
Yudhishtira's whispered white lie
"Ashwathamma the elephant not the
man" all I could feebly mutter in the
din of the music was "the researcher

When the procession came to a stop

at an intersection, a group of
enthusiastic young fans started asking
me whether people in Japan loved
Rajinikanth as much as they did in
India. I didn't have the heart to say

not the Japanese fan': I subsequently

found out that there had already been
larger conspiracies churning which
resulted in my initially hesitant and
subsequently enjoyable role of
Doppelganger. One of the l('chlll1g
newspapers in Bangalore h.

By then I had figured that it W:lS

pointless continuing this adventure
a research project. I kept aside my
notebook and decided to just enjo)
the rest of the celebration. By the t1 In(
the procession reached the RBAN l\,1l;
ground I Iud my own little band of

I managed to shake them off and

rejoin the procession but I was
followed by a small and persistent
group that, to my dismay, kept
introdUcing me to various people as
Japanese. It was clear that vicarious
sovereignty had come back to claim its
tax from the researcher.

made, informing others that a Japan

fan was present at the celebration, and
the next thing I knew I was being
introduced to the President of the
Rajinikanth Fans Welfare Associa
I started to enjoy the banter with
various groups, gave a few autograph
and even corrected them when the)
said "Tokyo"-I was from Okinawa. I
told them.

ArtConnect: The IFA Magazine. Volume 7. Number

protectors who claimed partial

ownership over me for having
discovered me. The president of the fans

Following Fans - Luwren

introduced to the corporator and the

pontiff who were already seated on the
dais.

association started his speech and

which the procession would finally head

towards Naga for the premiere. I was by
now quite enthused with my newly
adopted persona and even hoped that

introductions of the chief guests amidst

I quickly tried to think of what I would

much cheering, and at one point in the

say and even wondered whether I

the welfare association would give me a

free cinema ticket.

me and urging me to join them for

lunch, and with a puzzled polic
who was perhaps wondering if all
Japanese looked alike, I hopped IOro
moving auto, much to the
disappointment of the fans, and a$

speech he seemed to mention the word

should put on a slight Japanese accent

"Japanese'; or was I imagining things?

to sound a little more authentic, but all

As I descended from the stage, I

He translated his own speech into

my plans were laid to waste the

encountered a group of policemen

As a research trip I guess it was

English and announced, "Friends, today

moment I came face to face with 5,000

deployed to provide protection for the

unqualified disaster, and I am not

we have with us a Japanese fan who has

odd enthusiastic fans. I muttered a few

programme. One of them smiled at

closer now than I was in 2005 to

come all the way from Japan to celebrate

nervous words about how popular

me and said, "Sir, aren't you the lawyer

figuring out the dynamics of

with us and show his affection for our

Rajinikanth was in Japan and how we

with that human rights organisation?"

Rajinikanth fan clubs in Bangalore

beloved superstar. We would request

wished that we could have someone like

I recognised him as someone I had

as an encounter in which c1llematiL

him to come on the stage and say a few

Rajini-sir in Japan. Sensing the slight

met a few days ago in a police station I

effects spill over from the s( reen ant.

eventually take over the real world

the driver to just take me anvwhl

1

disappointment of the crowd I raised

had gone to in connection with the

I was in and excitedly thought that there

my hand to show the famous Baba sign

arrest of a Tibetan activist. Before I

infusing it with the magic of surt'eal

perhaps was a real Japanese fan who

and then managed to end on a more

could answer I could hear the fans

encounters, shared happiness and

may have travelled from Chennai to

buoyant note with the well-known

clapping and waving and realised what

momentary dangers, one couldn't

Bangalore. I dug into my bag to retrieve

saying among Rajinikanth fans, "There

this revelation could mean. I looked at

asked for more cinema.

words:' I temporarily forgot the situation

my camera to click the Japanese fan, but

is only one sun, there is only one moon,

the cop blank-faced, kept saying

before I could take it out, the fans close

there is only one mother and there is

"Okinawa" and walked straight ahead

to me broke into cheers, and grabbing

only one star-Superstar:' As academics

towards the exit, looking for the

my hands, started waving them about. I

we know that the largest crowd that we

nearest auto rickshaw. My big garland

was rapidly led towards the stage. I

will ever address will at best be a few

around me, a group of fans following

ineffectually protested about not being

hundred in a seminar room, and if

able to give speeches, to which the

earlier in the morning I had been

president laughed and said, "Why sir,

thinking about vicarious sovereignty, all

feeling the shy, don't worry superstar

I could think of now was what it might

Rajini is with you': When I tried to

feel like to be a vicarious rock star.

resist for the second time he was visibly

Feeling slightly more at ease I went back

displeased and requested me in a tone

to my chair and proceeded to engage

that sounded more like a command, "Sir,

more confidently in some small talk

please come up and show respect for the

star:' I walked up to the stage and was
garlanded by the president anc

with my fellow chief guests. After a few

more spec.:hcs the pt'csidcm said that
there would be an early lunch after

hJ\

Lawrence Liang is a lawyer and film

scholar at the Alternative LIW For'"
He is currently finishing a book 0
and justice and cinema in Indin.

ArtConnect: The IFA Mogo<Jne, Volume 7. Number

4. Ibid.

NOTES
1. S.y. Srinivas, Megastar: Chiranjeevi and

5. KajriJain,'More than Meets the Eye: The

Telugu Cinema after NT Rama Rao (New

Circulation of Images and the Embodiment

Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009).

of Value; Contributions to Indian Socio{ogy-36

(February 2002),

2. The TIJirukkural, believed to have been

written in around 30

masterpiece of Tamil literature. It is written

in the form of couplets that deal with virtue,
love, and other aspects of ethical living.
3. M. Madhava Prasad,'Cine-Politics: On
the Political Significance of Cinema in
South India;]otlrnal of the Moving Image,
No.1 (1999). Available at
http:// wwwJmionline.org/filmjournalljmi

_OIl article_03.php.

pp.33-70.

Be. is considered a
6. Ibid., p. 67.

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