Good article. As someone who grew up in Chennai, alhtough far removed from the madness of the Tamil film industry, this was still reminiscent. Ofcourse, the missing piece was the Rajnikant fan clubs. The author had a valid reason, but the article is incomplete without coverage of the largest phenonemon to hit the South Indian movie industry. Though it was many years ago, one of my vivid memories was watching Baasha in a movie hall with my friends ... the excitement and theatrics in the theatre by the multitude of fans has to be experienced to be believed! A year ago, I watched Shivaji in a posh multiplex in Bombay with my husband (it was his first tamil movie and he didnt know what hit him!) and was pleasantly surprised to see the excitement/ fanfare in the hall!