Rinku Kalsy's For The Love Of Man is an eye-opening look into the extreme fandom towards Rajinkianth, one of India's largest movie stars. You think Marvel fanboys are intrusive? Not even close to this type of hero worship, as fans in India have put this former bus driver turned star on such a pedestal that he might as well be a god. For The Love Of Man is a fascinating documentary that examines hero worship, looking behind the sheer insanity of this form of dedication and attempting to understand the roots of this type of worship. With more than 150,000 fan clubs dedicated to Rajinkanth he is essentially a god in India, and For The Love Of Man attempts to understand this type of worship by profiling a few of his most ardent fans. For The Love Of Man isn't a biography, it is something much more, examining how a movie star's role have shaped political movement in India. Being an actor whose roles were often rooted in blue-collar, low-end jobs, Rajinkanth is a character that the lower class of India instantly identified, and For the Love of Man traces how this actor has become a symbol for the oppressed, poverty-stricken individuals, someone who they all look up to, and praise like a god. For the Love of Man is an eye-opening experience due the extreme fandom alone, but where the film excels is in its ability to capture how the cultural ethos of India created such hero worship. A country with one of the worst economic disparity between the rich and the poor, For the Love Of Man paints a convincing portrait of how this actor provides a sense of hope to many lower-class individuals, who project their own struggles and flaws onto this actor. Many of the fans this film documents believe Rajinkanth is the answer to their problems, blindly believing he can provide the answer to their problems. For The Love Of Man is uncomfortable in this way, as it becomes clear that this actor provides a false sense of hope to these individuals, a distraction to the masses who focus on this type of hero worship instead of focusing the true politics and problems facing their country. A film which examines the socio-economical impact of one of India's biggest stars, For the Love Of Man is a film that captures the true potency of cinema, the heroes it creates, and responsibility it bestows on a man in Rajinkanth who is looked at like a god.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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