The book begins with N. Kalyan Raman’s chapters on Tamil cinema—‘Dream world: Reflections on Cinema and Society in Tamil Country’. After the usual mythological period, Raman looks at how the political scenario in Tamil Nadu over the years, beginning with how the Dravidian movement and its various offshoots had a direct effect on cinema. The effects of caste on Tamil cinema are also explored. In all, for those unfamiliar with Tamil cinema, history, society and politics, Raman’s chapters are almost a perfect primer, a stepping stone to deeper reading, if you will. Almost curiously, Raman chooses to ignore the biggest phenomenon ever in the Tamil film industry—Rajinikanth. Though the star system is present and accounted for and all the important stars are duly name-checked, Rajinikanth is mentioned precisely once. “The sway of big-budget entertainers starring Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan took hold of the viewers from the mid-’80s, and the conservatism—both political and social—inherent in mass-market entertainers with a lot of investment at stake pushed all dissent to the margin.” That’s it. Nothing about the reflection of Tamil society and politics in Rajinikanth’s films, nor the actor’s overtly political messages in his later work.