Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival: For The Love of A Man + Q&A with Director Rinku Kalsy

UK Premiere

Actor, Leader, Hero, God. For his fans, the superstar Rajinikanth is all of these. Men from various generations alter their lives, sell their belongings, and place fandom above their families in devotion to the iconic actor, a man who has inspired a fanatic cult following across the world ranging from India to Japan. This riveting documentary explores how the expression of fandom through enormous posters, elaborate public rituals, and the frenzied atmosphere inside theatres has deep social, political, and devotional foundations in South India.

Fandom is about more than cinema – it is about brotherhood, identity, or even social aspiration. The film follows various stories – performers seeking a shot at fame by mimicking the star, families managing the consequences of the fans’ spending on movies, theatre owners worrying about fans running wild.

For the Love of a Man, dir. Rinku Kalsy, India/Netherlands 2015, 85 mins. Tamil/English with English subtitles.

The Bagri Foundation supports documentary films as a powerful medium to raise social awareness.