Rajinikanth Politics What are his political views? Rajinikanth began supporting the Indian National Congress Did you support any specific politicians? Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. In what ways did he support the prime minister? An opinion poll conducted by the magazine Kumudam predicted that Congress, with Rajinikanth's support, might win up to 130 seats Did Congress win seats because of his support? Rajinikanth changed loyalties Who did he change his loyalty to? supported the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) alliance. Why did he change his support to them? the Congress Party decided to align with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for the assembly election in Tamil Nadu, who won the assembly election? This alliance had a complete victory in 1996. Was he an elected official? Fans of Rajinikanth in Tamil Nadu have continuously speculated on his entry in politics, Did he campaign for anyone? Rajinikanth said he would personally vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Did his campaigning have influence in the election?
Did Rajinikanth's campaigning have influence in the election of 1996?
In January 2011, Rajinikanth was slated to appear in Rana, a period film to be produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, who would work with the actor for a third time. During the principal photography of the film on 29 April 2011, he suffered a mild foodborne illness on the sets, which led to vomiting, dehydration, and exhaustion. He was treated at St. Isabel's Hospital for a day before being discharged. Five days later, he was rushed to the same hospital again after suffering from breathlessness and fever. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and was kept at the hospital for a week, while also spending a few days in an intensive care unit. Several conflicting reports of discharge dates arose, as well as claims of Rajinikanth's health deteriorating. Two days after his last discharge, Rajinikanth was admitted to the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute on 16 May 2011 for recurring respiratory and gastrointestinal problems. The hospital maintained that Rajinikanth was in stable condition and showed positive response to treatment. It was widely reported that he required a kidney transplantation, which was later denied by Dhanush.  On 21 May 2011, Aishwarya Rajinikanth released a photo of her and Rajinikanth in his hospital ward, both posing with a thumbs signal, responding to fans' negative reaction to news reports. The hospital restricted unauthorised visitors. Rajinikanth's brother, Sathyanarayana Rao Gaekwad, reported that the cause of the sudden illness was due to stress from rapid weight-loss and changes in diet, as well as withdrawal of alcohol consumption and smoking cessation. After addressing fans in a 4-minute digitally recorded voice message to the media, Rajinikanth, under the advice of Amitabh Bachchan, travelled from Chennai to Singapore with his family on 21 May 2011, where he was to undergo further treatment for nephropathy at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. After spending over two weeks at the hospital, he was finally discharged on 15 June 2011 and continued to recuperate in Singapore, before returning to Chennai on 13 July 2011.  Despite several failed attempts to restart Rana upon his return, Rajinikanth reprised his Enthiran character, Chitti, in the Bollywood science-fiction film Ra.One (2011) in a guest appearance alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor. In November 2011, it was decided that Rana would be shelved in favour of a new project with Rajinikanth, titled Kochadaiiyaan. The motion capture film, which is the first of its kind in India, was released in 2014 to positive reviews. Kochadaiiyaan, and the 3D release of Sivaji in 2012, made Rajinikanth the first Indian actor to have appeared in four different forms of world cinema: black-and-white, colour, 3D and motion capture. Following the completion of Kochadaiiyaan, Rajinikanth began work in Ravikumar's next directorial venture, titled Lingaa alongside Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha. The film was released on 12 December 2014, coinciding with his birthday, and received mixed reviews from critics. Rajinikanth's next film was director Pa. Ranjith's crime drama Kabali, produced by S. Thanu. The film was released in July 2016. Rajinikanth is filming for 2.0, a spiritual successor to Enthiran, that is scheduled for release in 2017. In August 2016, it was announced that he would work with Ranjith again for a new film produced by Dhanush.  Rajinikanth has often been referred to as the most popular film actor in South India by the media and audiences. In 2015, a film about his fandom, For the Love of a Man, premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.  His popularity has been attributed to "his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, as well as his political statements and philanthropy". Many also cite reasons for Rajinikanth's popularity as coming from his larger-than-life super-hero appearance in many films, supported by gravity-defying stunts and charismatic expressions, all while attempting to maintain modesty in real-life. Almost every film of Rajinikanth has punchlines delivered by him in an inimitable style, and these punchlines often have a message or even warn the film's antagonists. These dialogues are usually fabricated to create new ones or even be taken in a comical way, but do not fail to create a sense of entertainment among viewers. It is suggested by the media that actresses such as Gouthami and Nayanthara got their initial breakthrough after co-starring with Rajinikanth very early in their careers, giving other aspiring actors the urge to work with him.  Rajinikanth is also the only Indian actor to be featured in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus, in a lesson titled From Bus Conductor to Superstar. After opening his first official Twitter account in 2014, Rajinikanth received over 210,000 followers within 24 hours, which according to The Economic Times was deemed by social media research firms as the fastest rate of followers for any Indian celebrity, as well as among the top-10 in the world.  Much like Chuck Norris facts, "Rajinikanth facts" or "Rajinikanth jokes" are widely circulated in text messages and memes over the Internet. These satirical jokes have also inspired several mobile applications for iOS and Android.  Critics, such as Cho Ramaswamy, have commented that Rajinikanth has the potential to be successful in Indian politics due to his popularity and fan base alone. In 1995, Rajinikanth began supporting the Indian National Congress after meeting Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. An opinion poll conducted by the magazine Kumudam predicted that Congress, with Rajinikanth's support, might win up to 130 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. In 1996, when the Congress Party decided to align with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for the assembly election in Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth changed loyalties and supported the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) alliance. The TMC used a bicycle as their election symbol and used an image of Rajinikanth riding a bicycle from the film Annamalai in their posters. Rajinikanth said: "Even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if AIADMK returns to power." Rajinikanth wholeheartedly supported the DMK and TMC alliance and asked the people of Tamil Nadu and his fans to vote for that alliance. This alliance had a complete victory in 1996. Rajinikanth also supported the DMK-TMC alliance in the parliamentary election, held the same year. Later in 2004, Rajinikanth said he would personally vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but would not extend his support to any front during the upcoming Indian general election. The party, however, failed to win any seats in Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.  Fans of Rajinikanth in Tamil Nadu have continuously speculated on his entry in politics, particularly to run for Chief Minister of the state. In 2008, a few fans in Coimbatore launched a political party for Rajinikanth, in an attempt to pressure his entry. The party was named the Desiya Dravadar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, with a dedicated party flag and symbol. After learning about this, Rajinikanth submitted an open letter to the media, declaring that he had no connection with these events and requested fans not to indulge in such activities, warning that he would take legal action if they failed to adhere. He also mentioned that he was not interested in politics, and thus was only committed to working in films. He added that nobody can force him to enter politics, just as no one can stop him from entering it.  Rajinikanth announced entry into politics on 31 Dec 2017 and confirmed that his newly formed party will contest in assembly elections in 2021 from all 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu state. His party, he said, would resign if it was unable to fullfill its electoral promises within three years of coming into power. CANNOTANSWER
The party, however, failed to win any seats
Rajinikanth (born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad; 12 December 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won many awards, including four Tamil Nadu State Film Best Actor Awards and a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. The Government of India has honoured him with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016). He received the Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Indian Cinema at the 4th Vijay Awards. At the 45th International Film Festival of India (2014), he was conferred with the "Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year". At the 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India (2019), he was honoured with the Icon of Global Jubilee award. He is the second-highest grossing actor in Tamil cinema history, behind M. G. Ramachandran. At the 67th National Film Awards, he was awarded India's highest award in the field of cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Following his debut in K. Balachander's 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal, Rajinikanth's acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic characters in Tamil films. The Suresh Krissna-directed Baashha (1995) in which Rajinikanth played a crime boss, was a major commercial success in his career and earned him a 'god-like' status in Tamil Nadu. Sivaji (2007) was the third Indian film to enter the 100 Crore Club. He played dual roles, as a scientist and an andro-humanoid robot, in the science fiction film Enthiran (2010) and its sequel 2.0 (2018), both being India's most expensive production at the time of their release, and among the one of highest-grossing Indian films of all time.

Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. His popularity has been attributed to his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, as well as his political statements and philanthropy. A philanthropist, he undertook a day-long fast in 2002 to protest the Government of Karnataka's decision to not release Kaveri River water into Tamil Nadu, and donated  toward a plan to interlink Indian rivers. Rajinikanth is the only Indian actor to be featured in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus, in a lesson titled From Bus Conductor to Superstar. In 2015, a film about his fandom, For the Love of a Man, premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

Early life

Rajinikanth was born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad on 12 December 1950 in a Marathi family in Bangalore, Mysore State (present day Karnataka). He was named after the Maratha Empire king Shivaji, and was brought up speaking Marathi at home and Kannada outside. His mother was a housewife, and his father Ramoji Rao Gaekwad was a police constable. His ancestors hailed from Mavadi Kadepathar, Pune, Maharashtra. He is the youngest of four siblings in a family consisting of two elder brothers (Satyanarayana Rao and Nageshwara Rao) and a sister (Aswath Balubhai). After his father's retirement from work in 1956, the family moved to the suburb of Hanumantha Nagar in Bangalore and built a house there. He lost his mother at the age of nine.

Rajinikanth had his primary education at the Gavipuram Government Kannada Model Primary School in Bangalore. As a child, he was "studious and mischievous" with a great interest in cricket, football and basketball. During this time, his brother enrolled him at the Ramakrishna Math, a Hindu monastery set up by the Ramakrishna Mission. In the math, he was taught Vedas, tradition and history, which eventually instilled a sense of spirituality in him. In addition to spiritual lessons, he also began acting in plays at the math. His aspiration towards theatre grew at the math and was once given an opportunity to enact the role of Ekalavya's friend from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. His performance in the play received praise from the Kannada poet D. R. Bendre. After sixth grade, Rajinikanth was enrolled at the Acharya Pathasala Public School and studied there till completion of his pre-university course. During his schooling at the Acharya Pathasala, he spent a lot of time acting in plays.

Upon completion of his school education, Rajinikanth performed several jobs including that of a coolie, before getting a job in the Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) as a bus conductor. He continued to take part in plays after the Kannada playwright Topi Muniappa offered him a chance to act in one of his mythological plays. He decided to take up an acting course in the newly formed Madras Film Institute after coming across an advertisement. Though his family was not fully supportive of his decision to join the institute, his friend and co-worker Raj Bahadur motivated him to join the institute and financially supported him during this phase. During his stay at the institute, he was noticed by the Tamil film director K. Balachander. Balachander provided Rajinikanth with his stage name to avoid confusion with fellow actor Sivaji Ganesan, having taken it from a character's name in his earlier film Major Chandrakanth. The director advised him to learn to speak Tamil, a recommendation that Rajinikanth quickly followed. Though he can read the language, he cannot write in it.

Acting career

1975–1977: Early career 

Rajinikanth began his film career with the Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal (1975), directed by K. Balachander. He was cast in a small role as the ex-husband of the female lead played by Srividya. The film explored relationships between people with wide age differences and was deemed controversial upon release. However, it received critical acclaim and won three National Film Awards including the Award for the Best Tamil Feature at the 23rd National Film Awards in 1976. A review from The Hindu noted that: "Newcomer Rajinikanth is dignified and impressive". His next release was Puttanna Kanagal's Kannada anthology film Katha Sangama (1976). Rajinikanth appeared in the last segment of the film; he played the role as a village ruffian who rapes a blind woman in the absence of her husband. Balachander cast him in a pivotal role in Anthuleni Katha, the Telugu remake of his own Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974). In Moondru Mudichuthe first Tamil film to feature him in a prominent rolehe played a character that "blithely row[s] away" when his friend drowns accidentally in the lake only to fulfill his desire to marry the former's girlfriend. His style of flipping the cigarette in the film made him popular among the audience. In his final release of the year, Baalu Jenu, he was cast as the main antagonist which troubles the female lead. He played similar roles in Balachander's Avargal (1977), and Bharathiraja's 16 Vayadhinile (1977). The same year, he made his first-ever appearance as a lead actor in the Telugu film Chilakamma Cheppindi. S. P. Muthuraman experimented Rajinikanth in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri (1977). The success of the film brought the duo together for 24 more films till the 1990s. Rajinikanth played supporting and "villainous" roles in most of the films released during the year. In Gaayathri he was cast as a pornographer who secretly films his relationship with his wife without her knowledge and in Galate Samsara he played the role of a married man who develops an affair with a cabaret dancer. He had 15 of his films released during the year.

1978–1989: Experimentation and breakthrough 
In 1978, Rajinikanth had 20 releases across Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. His first film of the year was P. Madhavan's Shankar Salim Simon, in which he was among the three leads. Following that, he co-starred alongside Vishnuvardhan in the Kannada film Kiladi Kittu. He played the second lead in Annadammula Savaal, which starred Krishna; Rajinikanth reprised his role from the Kannada original. He then played an important role in the supernatural thriller Aayiram Jenmangal. In Maathu Tappada Maga, he was the main antagonist. Bairavi, directed by M.Bhaskar, was the first Tamil film to cast Rajinikanth as a solo hero. It was for this film that he earned the sobriquet "Superstar". S. Thanu, one of the film's distributors, set up a  high cut-out of Rajinikanth. His next appearance Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu, a quadrangular love story written and directed by C. V. Sridhar, saw him play the role of a man who sacrifices his love for his friend, played by Kamal Haasan. The film's success prompted Sridhar to remake the film in Telugu, Vayasu Pilichindi, which retained the original cast of the Tamil film.

His next film, Vanakkatukuriya Kathaliye, had an introductory song to mark his entry, a trend that would soon catch on in with his later films. Mullum Malarum, released during the same period, received critical acclaim. The film marked the directional debut of Mahendran, with a screenplay adapted from a novel of the same name published in Kalki. It won that year's Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film and a Special Prize (Best Actor) for Rajinikanth at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Following this, he made a foray into Malayalam cinema with I. V. Sasi's fantasy film Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum, which was based on a story from the Arabian Nights. The same year, he acted in Dharma Yuddam, in which he played a mentally ill person avenging the death of his parents. He then co-starred with N. T. Rama Rao in Tiger. Upon completion of Tiger, Rajinikanth had acted in 50 films over a period of four years, and in four languages. Some other popular films released during this period are the youthful entertainer Ninaithale Inikkum, the Tamil–Kannada bilingual Priya, the Telugu film Amma Evarikkaina Amma and the melodrama Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai. Priya, based on a detective novel by Sujatha, had the distinction of being the first film of Rajinikanth to be shot mostly outside India, mainly in Southeast Asia.

Raijinikanth, who credited Hindi film star Amitabh Bachchan as his inspiration, began playing Amitabh Bachchan's roles in Tamil remakes of his films. This began with Shankar Salim Simon (1978), a remake of Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), followed by Naan Vazhavaippen (1979), a remake of Majboor (1974). He was subsequently cast in a series of roles modelled after Amitabh Bachchan in Tamil remakes of his films. Rajinikanth starred in eleven Tamil remakes of Amitabh Bachchan films, as well as a Telugu remake of Amar Akbar Anthony, Ram Robert Rahim (1980), alongside Sridevi. The most successful of these were remakes of Salim–Javed films,
such as Billa (1980), Thee (1981) and Mr. Bharath (1986).

During this phase of his career, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed to return with the Tamil film Billa (1980), a remake of the Bollywood blockbuster Don (1978), written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan. Billa had Rajinikanth playing dual roles and eventually became his first ever commercial success. His pairing with Sridevi continued in Johnny, where he was once again cast in a double role. He also starred in Murattu Kaalai which was a commercial success. The success of Billa was a turning point in Rajinikanth's career, disproving detractors that claimed Rajnikanth was "finished" and which saw him accepted as a full-fledged hero. The success of Billa established Rajinikanth as the top star of South Indian cinema, overtaking Kamal Haasan.

In 1981, he appeared in Garjanai which was shot simultaneously in Kannada and Malayalam, making it his last film in those two languages to date. In K. Balachander's first home production, Netrikan, he played dual roles as a womanising father and a responsible son. His first full-length comedy was Thillu Mullu, directed by K. Balachander. He agreed to it solely due to the strong suggestion by his mentor that he should do non-commercial roles, to break the stereotyped action-hero mould by which he was getting famous at the time. 1981 also saw the release of Thee, a remake of the 1975 Bollywood blockbuster Deewaar, also originally written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan; in Thee, Rajinikanth reprised the role of Bachchan in the original. In 1982, he starred in Pokkiri Raja, Moondru Mugam, Thanikattu Raja, Puthukavithai and Enkeyo Ketta Kural. Moondru Mugam had Rajinikanth playing three roles for the first time.

By 1983, he was a popular actor across South Indian cinema, including Telugu and Kannada films. In 1983, he starred in his first Bollywood film, Andha Kanoon, alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini. The film went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of that time. His 1984 film Naan Mahaan Alla, was directed by Muturaman and produced by K. Balachander. He acted in his first cameo role in the film Anbulla Rajinikanth. He played a triple role in John Jani Janardhan. His performance in Nallavanuku Nallavan earned him a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. In his 100th film Sri Raghavendra (1985), he played the Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami. His greatest success in Hindi films was his 101st film Bewafai. Released in 1985 with Rajesh Khanna as the lead hero and Rajinikanth as villain, it became a success and grossed Rs 11.95 crore at the box office that year.

In the second half of the 1980s, Rajinikanth acted in commercially successful films such as Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985), Padikkathavan (1985), Mr. Bharath (1986), Velaikaran (1987), Guru Sishyan (1988) and Dharmathin Thalaivan (1988). In 1988, he made his only American film appearance in Bloodstone, directed by Dwight Little, in which he played an English-speaking Indian taxi driver. Rajinikanth finished the decade with films including Rajadhi Raja, Siva, Raja Chinna Roja and Mappillai while also starring in a few Bollywood productions. Raja Chinna Roja was the first Indian film to feature live action and animation.

1990–2001: Commercial stardom 
By the 1990s, Rajinikanth established himself as a commercial entertainer. Almost all the films released during this period were highly successful at the box office.

He began the decade with a blockbuster in Panakkaran (1990), which was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan's 1981 film Laawaris. His next two Tamil films, the fantasy comedy Athisaya Piravi, (a remake of Chiranjeevi's 1988 film Yamudiki Mogudu) which also released in 1990 and the family drama Dharmadorai (1991), did above-average business at the box office. His stint with Bollywood continued since the past decade as he went on to star in more Hindi films. Hum released in 1991 saw him doing the second main lead with Amitabh Bachchan became an inspiration for Badsha. In 1991, he worked with Mani Ratnam in Thalapathi, which was heavily inspired by the Mahabharata. in which he co-starred with actor Mammooty; the film dealt with the friendship between two unknown characters based on Karna and Duryodhana, respectively, and was set in a more contemporary milieu and was both critically acclaimed and successful upon release. He went on to appear in remakes of films from other languages, mostly from Hindi and Telugu. Annamalai, which released in 1992, was yet another friendship-centric film and was loosely based on the 1987 Bollywood film Khudgarz. Mannan, directed by P. Vasu, a remake of Kannada actor Rajkumar's 1986 blockbuster Anuraga Aralithu, also was released in 1992 and became a box office success. Rajinikanth wrote his first screenplay for the film Valli (1993), in which he also made a special appearance. He also starred in the film Yejaman, in which he played the role of Vaanavaraayan, a village chieftain. His romantic-comedy Veera (1994) was controversial for its climax but went on to become one of the highest-grossing films in 1994.

He joined hands with Suresh Krishna for Baashha (1995), which emerged as an industry record, and is routinely touted by fans and critics alike as a major-hit, as the film elevated him from being just another very popular actor to nearly demigod status among the masses. He made a cameo in Peddarayudu for his friend Mohan Babu and also helped him in obtaining the remake rights. The same year, he acted in yet another gangster film, Aatank Hi Aatank with Aamir Khan which was also his last Hindi film in a major role till date. His film Muthu, a remake of Mohanlal's blockbuster Malayalam movie Thenmavin Kombathu, was another commercial success, directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by K. Balachander, and became the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese, as Mutu: Odoru Maharaja. The film grossed a record US$1.6 million in Japan in 1998 and was responsible for creating a large Japanese fan-base for the actor. Muthus success in Japan led American news magazine Newsweek to comment in a 1999 article that Rajinikanth had "supplanted Leonardo DiCaprio as Japan's trendiest heartthrob". During a visit to Japan in 2006, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged the success of Muthu in the country during a speech, justifying the positive relationship between the two nations. He also entered Bengali cinema through Bhagya Debata, which was released at the end of 1995. 1997's Arunachalam was another commercial success. Rajinikanth released his last film of the millennium with Padayappa (1999), which went on to become a blockbuster success. It starred Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya, the former critically acclaimed for her performance. It was also the last prominent role for veteran Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan.

2002–2010: Struggles, resurgence and acclaim 
After a brief pause, Rajinikanth starred in Baba in 2002, for which he had also written the screenplay. Released with much fanfare and hype at the time, the film featured a story revolving around the reforming of a gangster, later revealed to be the reincarnation of the Hindu saint Mahavatar Babaji, and fights against political corruption. It fell short of market expectations and the high bids reportedly translated to heavy losses for the distributors. Rajinikanth himself repaid the losses incurred by the distributors. The film was received with comments such as "the bloom was off the rose" and that "the gold does not glitter any more". Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss condemned him for smoking and posing with beedis in the film. He was criticised for spoiling the Tamil youth by glorifying smoking and drinking. PMK volunteers attacked the theatres which screened the film and usurped film rolls and burned them.

Two years later, Rajinikanth signed up for P. Vasu's Chandramukhi (2005), a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. Upon release the film was highly successful at the box office, and in 2007 it set the record of being the longest running Tamil film. Chandramukhi was also dubbed in Turkish and in German as Der Geisterjäger and released in the respective nations. Following Chandramukhis release, it was reported that AVM Productions was set to produce a film directed by Shankar starring Rajinikanth – the largest collaboration yet for a Tamil film. The film was titled Sivaji and was released in the summer of 2007, following two years of filming and production. It became the first Tamil film to be charted as one of the "top-ten best films" of the United Kingdom and South Africa box offices upon release. Rajinikanth received a salary of , for his role in the film highest in his film career at that time. During the production of Sivaji, Soundarya Rajinikanth announced her intention of producing a computer-generated imagery film starring an animated version of her father titled Sultan: The Warrior. The film was set for release in 2008, however, it entered development hell, and its development status would become unknown over the next few years.

He worked with P. Vasu again for Kuselan, a remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, which was made simultaneously in Telugu as Kathanayakudu, in which Rajinikanth played an extended cameo role as himself, a film star in the Indian cinema, and a

s a best friend to the film's protagonist. According to Rajinikanth, the film somewhat narrated his early life. The film, however, performed poorly at box offices and led to many distributors incurring major losses. Rajinikanth also stated that he would work with Pyramid Saimira again to compensate for Kuselan."Is there anything left to be said about a man who, at 61, still manages to star in one of the most successful films of the year, not just in the south, but across India? Superstar Rajni once again proved that he is the actor with the Midas touch with the sci-fi flick Enthiran, where he played an ambitious scientist, a naive robot and an evil android bent on destroying the world [...] He did it with such aplomb that he's been the talk of the town for months. He might do one film in two years, but when he does, he pulls out all the stops."

Rajinikanth worked again with Shankar for the science fiction film Enthiran. The film was released worldwide in 2010 as the most expensive Indian film ever made, ultimately becoming the second highest-grossing film in India of its time. Rajinikanth was paid a remuneration of  for the film. The film's success lead to the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to use the film as a case study to analyse the business of cinema and its success story in a post-graduate elective management course called Contemporary Film Industry: A Business Perspective. The course would also study Muthu.

2011–present: Hospitalisation and return 
In January 2011, Rajinikanth was slated to appear in Rana, a period film to be produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, who would work with the actor for a third time. During the principal photography of the film on 29 April 2011, he suffered a mild foodborne illness on the sets, which led to vomiting, dehydration, and exhaustion. He was treated at St. Isabel's Hospital for a day before being discharged. Five days later, he was rushed to the same hospital again after suffering from breathlessness and fever. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and was kept at the hospital for a week, while also spending a few days in an intensive care unit. Several conflicting reports of discharge dates arose, as well as claims of Rajinikanth's health deteriorating. Two days after his last discharge, Rajinikanth was admitted to the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute on 16 May 2011 for recurring respiratory and gastrointestinal problems. The hospital maintained that Rajinikanth was in stable condition and showed positive response to treatment. It was widely reported that he required a kidney transplantation, which was later denied by Dhanush.

On 21 May 2011, Aishwarya Rajinikanth released a photo of her and Rajinikanth in his hospital ward, both posing with a thumbs signal, responding to fans' negative reaction to news reports. The hospital restricted unauthorised visitors. Rajinikanth's brother, Sathyanarayana Rao Gaekwad, reported that the cause of the sudden illness was due to stress from rapid weight-loss and changes in diet, as well as withdrawal of alcohol consumption and smoking cessation. After addressing fans in a 4-minute digitally recorded voice message to the media, Rajinikanth, under the advice of Amitabh Bachchan, travelled from Chennai to Singapore with his family on 21 May 2011, where he was to undergo further treatment for nephropathy at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. After spending over two weeks at the hospital, he was finally discharged on 15 June 2011 and continued to recuperate in Singapore, before returning to Chennai on 13 July 2011.

Despite several failed attempts to restart Rana upon his return, Rajinikanth reprised his Enthiran character, Chitti, in the Bollywood science-fiction film Ra.One (2011) in a guest appearance alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor. In November 2011, it was decided that Rana would be shelved in favour of a new project, titled Kochadaiiyaan. The motion capture film, which is the first of its kind in India, was released in 2014 to positive reviews. Kochadaiiyaan, and the 3D release of Sivaji in 2012, made Rajinikanth the first Indian actor to have appeared in four different forms of world cinema: black-and-white, colour, 3D and motion capture. Following the completion of Kochadaiiyaan, Rajinikanth began work in Ravikumar's next directorial venture, titled Lingaa alongside Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha. The film was released on 12 December 2014, coinciding with his birthday, and received mixed reviews from critics. Rajinikanth's next film was director Pa. Ranjith's crime drama Kabali, produced by S. Thanu. The film was released in July 2016.

In August 2016, it was announced that Rajinikanth and Ranjith would work together again for a film with Dhanush as producer, titled Kaala, in which Rajinikanth plays a Dharavi-dwelling gangster who fights against corporate takeover of the slum. The film was officially released on 7 June 2018. In 2018 he also appeared in S. Shankar's 2.0 reprising the roles of Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. In 2019, Rajinikanth starred in Karthik Subbaraj's Petta, in which his performance received praise for his return to his vintage stereotypical style of acting. The combined gross earnings of Kaala, 2.0 and Petta by the end of January 2019 was determined to be over  1000 crore according to trade analysts. Rajinikanth worked with AR Murugadoss in the film Darbar, which released in 2020. The next project of Rajinikanth was with director Siva, the film titled Annaatthe where he played role of a protective brother and the film was successful.

Political career

Rajinikanth said: "Even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if AIADMK returns to power." Rajinikanth wholeheartedly supported the DMK and TMC alliance and asked the people of Tamil Nadu and his fans to vote for that alliance. This alliance had a complete victory in 1996. Rajinikanth also supported the DMK-TMC alliance in the parliamentary election, held the same year.

Later in 2004, Rajinikanth said he would personally vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but would not extend his support to any front during the upcoming Indian general election. The party, however, failed to win any seats in Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.

However several political analysts state Rajnikanth has missed his chance and unlike 1996 when he was at his peak it will be very difficult for him to make a significant impact in 2019.

Rajinikanth announced entry into politics on 31 December 2017 and confirmed his intention to contest in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections in all 234 constituencies. He stated that his party would resign if it was unable to fulfill its electoral promises within three years of coming into power. Rajinikant dissolved his party Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) on 12 July 2021 and also said that he has no plans to enter politics in future.

Acclaim and criticism

Acting style
Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. In addition, he is regarded as the most popular actor in South India. His popularity has been attributed to "his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, as well as his political statements and philanthropy". Many also cite reasons for Rajinikanth's popularity as coming from his larger-than-life super-hero appearance in many films, supported by gravity-defying stunts and charismatic expressions, all while attempting to maintain modesty in real-life. Almost every film of Rajinikanth has punchlines delivered by him in an inimitable style, and these punchlines often have a message or even warn the film's antagonists. These dialogues are usually fabricated to create new ones or even be taken in a comical way, but do not fail to create a sense of entertainment among viewers. It is suggested by the media that actresses such as Gouthami and Nayanthara got their initial breakthrough after co-starring with Rajinikanth very early in their careers, giving other aspiring actors the urge to work with him.

Rajinikanth is the highest-grossing actor in Tamil cinema history and one of the highest-paid entertainers in India. He is the only Indian actor to be featured in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus, in a lesson titled From Bus Conductor to Superstar. After opening his first official Twitter account in 2014, Rajinikanth received over 210,000 followers within 24 hours, which according to The Economic Times was deemed by social media research firms as the fastest rate of followers for any Indian celebrity, as well as among the top-10 in the world. In 2015, a film about his fandom, For the Love of a Man, premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

Comments on social issues
In 2002, Rajinikanth undertook a day-long fast to protest the Government of Karnataka's decision to not release Kaveri River water into Tamil Nadu, and announced that he would contribute  toward a plan to interlink Indian rivers. He met with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many experts to canvass support for the project. His hunger strike was independent of the Nadigar Sangam, who organised their own solidarity protest for the same cause. Film director Bharathi Raja lashed out against Rajinikanth, alleging that he is dividing the film industry and saying that he was a "traitor who had a tacit understanding with the Karnataka government".

In 2008, Rajinikanth took part in a hunger strike organised by the Nadigar Sangam against Karnataka's stance on the Hogenakkal Falls water dispute, during which he gave a speech against politicians in Karnataka. It led to the state announcing a ban on him and his film Kuselan (2008). The ban was lifted after Rajinikanth appeared on TV9 Kannada and issued an apology for his speech. He later thanked the Government of Karnataka for lifting the ban and allowing the film's release in the state. The apology and subsequent gratitude towards Karnataka led to strong reactions from Nadigar Sangam members R. Sarathkumar, Sathyaraj and Radha Ravi, who called the apology a disgrace to Tamils and opined that his speech never provoked the sentiments of the Kannada people. Rajinikanth's support toward fellow actor Ajith Kumar, who in 2010 condemned the forceful inclusion of Tamil cinema personae in political affairs, broke into a controversy.
In 2018, Rajinikanth received negative criticism and reactions after justifying police action during the Thoothukudi massacre.

In 2020, Rajinikanth quoted a 2017 article from Outlook, which reported that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founder Periyar E. V. Ramasamy garlanded the idols of Hindu deities Rama and Sita with footwear at an atheist rally in 1971. His remarks were criticized by supporters of Periyar. In response to the backlash, Rajinikanth stated, "I did not speak on something that didn't happen. I've only spoken on what was reported. It was reported in Outlook also. Sorry, I will not apologise".

Personal life

Relationships
While he was working as a bus conductor in Bangalore, Rajinikanth met a medical student named Nirmala and started a relationship. After seeing him perform in a stage play, she encouraged him to pursue an acting career and sent an application to the Adyar Film Institute on his behalf and unbeknownst to him. Although he took up the offer and proceeded with his acting career, Rajinikanth has since lost contact with her.

Family
Rajinikanth married Latha Rangachari, a student of Ethiraj College for Women who interviewed him for her college magazine. The marriage took place on 26 February 1981, in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The couple has two daughters named Aishwarya Rajinikanth and Soundarya Rajinikanth. Latha runs a school named "The Ashram".

Aishwarya married actor Dhanush on 18 November 2004 and they have two sons, Yathra and Linga. His younger daughter, Soundarya, works in the Tamil film industry as a director, producer and graphic designer. She married industrialist Ashwin Ramkumar on 3 September 2010 and have a son Ved Krishna. In September 2016, Soundarya revealed that she and her husband had filed for divorce by mutual consent due to irreconcilable differences. In July 2017, the couple officially divorced. She has married Vishagan Vanangamudi, an actor and businessman, on 11 February 2019 at Leela Palace in Chennai.

Views
Rajinikanth is a follower of Hinduism, spiritualism, and a strong believer of spirituality. He is also a practitioner of yoga and meditation. Rajinikanth has religiously visited major Hindu temples prior to the release of each of his films; for instance he visited the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple before the release of Sivaji in 2007 and visited Sathya Sai Baba at Prasanthi Nilayam in Andhra Pradesh before the release of Kuselan the following year. He also occasionally leaves for pilgrimage to the Himalayas.

He has often referred to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Satchidananda, Ragavendra Swami, Mahavatar Babaji, and Ramana Maharishi as his favourite spiritual leaders.

Philanthropy

According to Naman Ramachandran, the author of Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography, most of Rajinikanth's philanthropic activities went unpublicised because he chose to keep them undisclosed. In the 1980s, when superstitious beliefs in Tamil Nadu created a stigma towards eye donation, Rajinikanth took the case of campaigning in support of corneal transplantation via television and public speeches. In 2011, Rajinikanth announced his support for the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and offered his commercial wedding venue, the Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam, in Chennai free of cost for the India Against Corruption members to hold their fast. He also provided lodging in the venue for sanitary workers hired to clean up after the 2015 South India floods. Rajinikanth's fan associations regularly organise blood donation and eye donation camps and distribute food during his birthday.

Money lending allegation 
Rajinikanth declared ₹61.1 lakh, ₹1.7 crore and ₹33.9 lakh as earnings for the years 2002–2003, 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 respectively. However, the Income Tax Department observed that he had claimed a considerable sum of professional expenses and thus carried out a survey in 2005 at his residence at Poes Garden. During the survey, the IT-Department found out that he had accounted for a lost of costs as his professional costs and it was also discovered that not even one-tenth of the residential property was allocated to professional purposes. Moreover, when Rajinikanth was questioned by the I-T department if he's in the money lending business, he initially denied it. Later, though, he admitted to the IT-Department that he was indeed a money lender, and that he had loaned money as a source of profit at an interest rate of 18 percent. Later, for all three years in dispute, Rajinikanth was forced to submit revised reports, confessing he had earned more than what was reported in the initial report on 14 February 2005. But the I-T department penalized him ₹66 lakh, since he filed revised returns only after they surveyed him.

This was challenged by Rajinikanth and his lawyers, and in January 2020 the I-T department wrote off the fine, due to its recent decision to withdraw from appeals in cases below Rs 1 Crore. The news that Rajinikanth told the Income Tax department that he was lending money at an 18 per cent interest rate has earned outrage and criticism for his high interest rate loans, which is a big problem in Tamil Nadu.

Awards and honours 

Rajinikanth has received numerous awards for many of his films, mostly in Tamil. He received his first Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor in 1984 for Nallavanuku Nallavan. Later he received Filmfare Award nominations for his performances in Sivaji (2007) and Enthiran (2010). As of 2014, Rajinikanth has received six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for his performances in various films. He also received numerous awards from Cinema Express and Filmfans' Association for his on-screen performances and off-screen contributions in writing and producing. 

Rajinikanth received the Kalaimamani award in 1984 and the M. G. R. Award in 1989, both from the Government of Tamil Nadu. In 1995, the South Indian Film Artistes' Association presented him with the Kalaichelvam Award. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016) by the Government of India. He was selected as the Indian Entertainer of the Year for 2007 by NDTV, competing against the likes of Shahrukh Khan. The Government of Maharashtra honoured him with the Raj Kapoor Award the same year. He received the Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Indian Cinema at the 4th Vijay Awards. Rajinikanth was also named one of the most influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek. He was also named by Forbes India as the most influential Indian of the year 2010. In 2011, he was awarded the Entertainer of the Decade Award by NDTV for the year 2010 by the then Indian Minister for Home Affairs P. Chidambaram. In December 2013, he was honoured by NDTV as one among the "25 Greatest Global Living Legends". In 2014, he was presented with the "Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year" at the 45th International Film Festival of India held at Goa.

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

 
 
 

 
1950 births
Indian male film actors
Living people
Male actors from Bangalore
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Tamil screenwriters
Male actors in Malayalam cinema
Film producers from Bangalore
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
Filmfare Awards South winners
M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute alumni
Marathi people
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors
Male actors in Telugu cinema
Screenwriters from Bangalore
Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients
Hybridization comprises the fusion of country- and culture-specific election campaigning methods with contemporary styles and techniques. Originally deriving from biology, where the term hybridizations denotes the process of combining different varieties of organism to create a hybrid, the term is transferred to the field of political communication when a hybrid election campaign arises. One main aspect of this concept is the emphasis on an international comparative perspective. In Globalization theory the term hybridization means the ongoing blending of cultures, which denotes in political campaign communication also the blending of political cultures.

Characteristics
Hybridization in political campaigning is concerned with the diffusion of political communication practices “mediated by cultural factors and accentuated by specific institutional arrangements” and “where country-specific, traditional modes are supplemented with select features of transnationally traded modern practices"

Influence factors
An important role in the development of campaign practices plays the political culture in the specific country. 
This culture finds expression in the relationship between political culture and political communication as organizing framework for comparing political systems The three key dimensions are the relationship between the media and the political system (e.g. regulations for political ads on TV), the norms that define roles and function of media for society (e.g. publishing of delicate private details of candidates) and relationship between citizens and political system (e.g. political fatigue)
 
In the process of hybridization “new technologies and techniques are adapted and blended together with preexisting modes of campaigning” Although the rise of the Internet, for example, lead to a variety of political websites of candidates, the preexisting norm of how personal a candidate is shown in campaign, i.e. whether there are information about the personal life of the candidate or not, remains decisive for the shape of the website.

Contextual constraints
There are several influence factors which determinate the way of hybridization, which practice is applied and which not. For example there are no candidate debates in Japan because in the culture-specific background there is a norm which stands for less confrontation between the candidates.

Institutional arrangements are, e.g., party-specific working methods, cultural traditions include for example the importance of political life and private life of president candidates for the public. Other contextual constraints for campaign styles are illustrated in regulatory frameworks like laws against specific campaigning methods like data mining and the media environment itself like the availability of free air-time on television.

Mediating factors in specific countries which influence campaign practices can be characterized as institutional and regulatory factors in three important areas: 
Electoral system,
party system and 
Mass media|media system.

The following table shows the most important factors shaping the way of hybridization:
Electoral system 
Party system 
Media system
Types, levels and frequencies of elections 
 Number of parties 
 Dominant type of broadcasting system

 Election laws 
 Fragmentation scores 
 Possibility to buy air time on TV

 Candidate or party vote 
 Party identification 
 TV consumption

Public vs. private funding of campaigns 
 Party system polarization 
 Daily newspaper reach

Modus of voter registration
 Strength of parties 
 Attitude of journalists towards politics

Table 1:Mediating system factors

Those factors shown in the table interact and shape the way of how the hybridization is practiced in a specific country and the cultural  and practices of the existing campaigning culture in that country matter as well. The three top categories Electoral, Party and Media System show in which area the campaign practices are influenced. For example, data privacy protection is a high value in German society and law so the campaign practice of data sourcing is highly frowned upon there.

Earlier approaches 

The shift and changes in political campaigning in different countries have been visible for a long time and there have been different explanations in research.

Media revolution 
One of the earlier research approaches is the occurrence of a media revolution which came up with the rise of television. Media is seen here as a causal factor for changes in campaigning and political culture: “The mass media are assuming many of the information functions that political parties once controlled. Instead of learning about an election at a campaign rally or from party canvassers, the mass media have become the primary resource of campaign information”.

Modernization and marketing revolution 
Another process that is seen as explanatory factor in research is modernization which includes “changes in political culture as a consequence of a prolonged, universal structural change in politics, society and media system”. An example is the ongoing negativity of campaigning as a consequence of an endogenous change  i.e., changes in the specific country and culture. Often it is also used as a synonym for professionalization which means for example that major parties use more and more external consultants for campaigning. Often the changes in campaigning are also called marketing revolution. In this approach, change in parties and their relationship to voters leads to the fact that “many major parties turned to experts in marketing and public relations, opinion polling, and other techniques to discover how they could effectively appeal to citizens”.

Americanization 
The most prominent approach to explain the diffusion of campaign practices is called Americanization. American campaigning acts as a role model and is the reason for convergence of political communication in Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia to American methods like for example the orientation at marketing strategies. The idea of convergence of campaigning “comprises a targeted, uni-linear diffusion of political communication practices from the United States to other countries”. This approach contains several weak points, for example “it refers only to symptoms and practical patterns of political communication, whereas the institutions of the political system or the organizations and roles of media and political actors are neglected”. The change is caused only external in this approach but not from a social change inside the country and culture.

The Shopping and Adoption Model 
To explain the global diffusion of American campaign and marketing techniques there have been two models, the Shopping and Adoption Model. Both models take into respect that American aspects, practices and strategies of campaigning find resemblance in other country's campaigning. Both use different perspectives to find the causal factors and future developments. The Adoption Model detects a standardization which will lead to a “gradual phase-out of country-specific traditional campaign styles and their substitution by capital-intensive, media- and consultant-driven campaign practices”. Today the Shopping Model is preferred because it focuses on the process of hybridization and proclaims a “country-specific supplementation of traditional campaign practices with select features of the American style of campaigning”. To summarize, the hybridization approach is the evolutionary explanation approach which arose from different earlier ones to explain changes in election campaigning.

Examples: hybridization around the world 
Hybridization as a mixture of culture- and country-specific campaign methods and new practices from the U.S. or other countries like image management, which means the focus on the personality of a candidate, can be found in several countries. A number of concrete examples are listed in the following:

In Sweden 
In his study Still the Middle Way: A Study of Political Communication Practices in Swedish Election Campaigns (2006) Lars W. Nord examines the change in Sweden in the light of hybridization. He discovers a mixed picture where media are becoming more important both as an arena and an actor in the political communication process. “The transformation process in Sweden is, however, rather slow and does not correspond in any way to the dramatic changes taking place within the electorate and the media system”. Nord names several reasons for Sweden's particular hybridization: First, he indicates that the political and electoral context in Sweden, which means a proportional and party-based electoral system, compromises “a possible global diffusion of campaign and marketing techniques based upon a two-party system and candidate centered”. Second the Swedish media structure is still politics-friendly and much time and space during election time is spent on more substantial political coverage than on power plays or scandals. As a last reason Nord names the political culture of Sweden where “political parties still thrive on party platforms and manifestos in their campaign activities, while they officially play down political marketing practices” because most of the members and voters expect that. In his conclusion Nord characterizes the hybridization of political communication practices in Sweden by a growing use of marketing tools, although he admits that substantial obstacles to the complete implementation of modern practices still exist. Therefore he identifies existing laws and regulations and, even more, public perceptions of parties, politics, and elections. Nord's study shows a particular insight how hybridization can look like in a Western European country.

In Ecuador 
To examine hybridization processes in a Latin American country, Corres de la Torre and Catherine Conaghan analyzed the election campaign race between presidency candidates Rafael Correa and Alvora Noboa in the year 2006. They did a multi-level-analysis and looked at campaign practices of the candidates like mass rallies and the reports on the candidates in media like in TV shows or newspaper articles. 
Their results show that there is a hybrid nature of campaigning in Ecuador: They found that both candidates used esp. television as a platform to present their personalities and project negative images of the competitor (e.g. in a TV spot where the other one was pictured as reckless capitalist). Secondly they found a trend towards professionalization. Both candidates used political professionals with considerable experience in presidential elections. 
“Both camps employed the standard communications tactics, from ‘going negative’ on opponents to the endless repetition of simple, understandable messages as in Noboa's promise of ‘jobs, jobs, and more jobs.’  The  focus  on  media  strategies,  however,  did  not  preclude  more  old-fashioned efforts at grassroots organizing; both organizations recognized the need to establish local networks of supporters for the ground war of political canvassing and getting out the vote on election Day". What both authors stress in their conclusion is that the hybridity in Ecuador is not only a hybridity in politics but also in public life which involves “the candidates’ intensive use of some of the most traditional political rhetorics and practices, namely populism and clientelism".

In Japan 
In his study Japanese Lower House Campaigns in Tradition: Manifest Changes or Fleeting Fads? (2009) Patrick Koellner examined if there is temporal change in campaigning practices in Japan. Recently he noticed a significant change in campaigns, like the increasing use of voter-chasing strategies which was earlier very local becoming higher on a national level. For example parties started in 2003 to publish manifesto, i.e., central issues and election main topics, ahead of the election which was new for Japanese party but is an established practice for example in Western European countries.

As a causal factor he names the growing number of independent voters in Japan who are no longer bound to any specific party, so a change in the electorate. He also identifies the mixed electoral system for the House of Representatives of Japan as reason for changing practices because in Japan the voting system for the Parliament has changed recently and so election campaigns did, too. Additionally, he names media- and technology-related developments as factors for new implementation of campaigning practices and comes to the conclusion that “the concurrence of elements of continuity and change in electioneering has led to a ‘hybridization’ of Lower House election campaigns".

Criticism 
The wide concept of hybridization covers a broad variety of changes and gives a rough frame for different processes. However, still questions remain and further research is needed in several areas. As most important gap “a lack of clearly specified and standardized independent and dependent variables, and a lack of explanatory hypothesis-based analyses with large aggregated data sets” can be identified. Another important factor which has to be analyzed further is the importance of new media practices especially in the light of changes in Arabic and African countries where institutional and social changes are taking place. And a constraint that should be considered when talking about hybridization is a conclusion Swanson and Mancini made: “it would be wrong to conclude that campaign practices in each country have followed paths which are completely unique".

Notes

See also 
Political campaign
Hybridisation (disambiguation)
Research strategies of election campaign communication research
Americanization
Globalization
Modernization
Transformation processes (media systems)

References 
Dalton, R., J., & Wattenberg, M., P. (2000). Parties without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gibson, R., & Römmele, A. (2001). Changing Campaign Communication: A Party-Centered Theory of Professionalized Campaigning. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 6 (4), p. 31-43.

Gurevitch, M., & Blumler, J. G. (2004). State of the art of comparative political communication research. Poised for maturity?. In F. Esser, & B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges (pp. 325–343). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Esser, F., & Pfetsch, B. (2005). Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Esser, F. & Strömbäck, J. (2012). Comparing Election Campaign Communication. In F. Esser (Ed.), Handbook of Comparative Communication Research (pp. 289–307). New York: Routledge.

Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Americanization, globalization, and secularization: Understanding the convergence of media systems and political communication. In F. Esser, & B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges (pp. 25–44). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Holtz-Bacha, C. (2000). Wahlkampf in Deutschland. Ein Fall bedingter Amerikanisierung. In K. Kamps (Ed.), Trans-Atlantik – Trans-Portabel? Die Amerikanisierungsthese in der politischen Kommunikation (pp. 44–55). Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

Holtz-Bacha, C. (2004). Political campaign communication: Conditional convergence of modern media elections. In F. Esser, & B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges (pp. 213–230). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Koellner, P. (2009). Japanese Lower House Campaigns in Transition: Manifest Change or Fleeting Fads? Journal of East Asia Studies, 6, p. 121-149.

Mancini, P., & Swanson, D. L. (1996). Politics, media, and modern democracy: Introduction. In D. L. Swanson, & P. Mancini (Eds.), Politics, media and modern democracy. An international study of innovations in electoral campaigning and their consequences (pp. 1–26). Westport: Praeger.

Nord, L., W. (2006). Still the Middle Way: A Study of Political Communication Practices in Swedish Election Campaigns. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 11, p. 64-76.

de la Torre, C., & Conaghan, C. (2009). The Hybrid Campaign: Tradition and Modernity in Ecuador's 
	2006 Election. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 14, p. 335-352.

Plasser, F., & Plasser, G. (2002). Global political campaigning. A worldwide analysis of campaign
professionals and their practises. Westport: Praeger.

Waisbord, S. (1997). Practicas y precios del proselitismo presidential: Apuntes sobre medios y campanas electorales en America Latina y Estados Unidos. Constribuciones, 2, p. 159-182.

Further reading 
Blumler, J. G., & Kavanagh, D. (1999). The third age of political communication: Influences and features. Political Communication, 16, p. 209–230.

Esser, F. & Pfetsch, B. (2004), Comparing political communication: theories, cases and challenges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Esser, F. & Strömbäck, J. (2012). Comparing Election Campaign Communication. In F. Esser (Ed.), Handbook of Comparative Communication Research (pp. 289–307). New York: Routledge.

Mancini, P., & Swanson, D. L. (1996). Politics, media, and modern democracy: An international study of innovations in electoral campaigning and their consequences. Westport: Prager.

Plasser, F., & Plasser, G. (2002). Global political campaigning. A worldwide analysis of campaign professionals and their practises. Westport: Preager.

Election campaigns Americanization in election campaign communication is the adaptation of particular, successful election campaign elements and strategies, first developed in the United States, in other countries. Two main characteristics of Americanization are the instrumental relationship between politics and media and the professionalization of election campaigns. The campaign techniques can be applied or adapted to different extents.

Since the concept was established in the 1970s and 80s, many recent studies have criticized and disproved the idea, because it neglects the different adaptations and variations of election campaigns between countries. Researchers arguing against the appropriateness of the concept Americanization point to the concepts of hybridization and modernization of election campaigns worldwide, which act as oppositions to Americanization.

Furthermore, there is a wide range of studies about Americanization in election campaign communication, which use the term in slightly different ways. For example, the term is applied to different groups – such as politicians, media or electorates.

Characteristics of Americanization 

Americanization in election campaign communication contains different characteristics concerning the levels of campaigning. The main aspect is the modification of political action towards the logic of media, as happened in American election campaigns. This means for example that politicians fit their appearance to the rules of television.

In most research literature professionalization is mentioned as the main characteristic of Americanization. Professionalization is subordinated to the level of organizations and does therefore concern the terms of campaign condition more than the actual campaign contents. Throughout changes in campaigning, professionalization is the production of electoral content with marketing methods.

Other aforementioned strategies can be merged in the orientation towards the medium television: Campaigns contain political events especially designed for the media, where politicians offer emotions and pictures for the camera. Therefore, the whole event is stage-managed; the politician is in the focus of attention – less the content of the parties’ election program. This phenomenon is also called de-ideologization, which means strategic orientation of campaigning being geared to marketing policies.

Americanization from two different points of view 

When looking at Americanization there are two different points of view, which differ in the way Americanization processes work.

The diffusion point of view 

The first one is the diffusion approach, which considers Americanization as a directional, one-way process. In this perspective the high increase of US-American strategies of electoral campaigning is based on voluntariness of other countries in applying them.

The modernization point of view 

The second one is the modernization theory, which argues that Americanization of election campaign communication is “the consequence of an ongoing structural change in politics, society and the media system” worldwide. This theory's proponents’ say, that Americanization comes from an endogenous change – meaning a change which is originated in the interior of the countries. The development towards US-American structures in election campaigning is a result of this change, but not the reason of it. Americanization is a sub-category of modernization, as Swanson and Mancini define:

"We hypothesize that adoption of Americanized campaign methods may reflect a wider, more general process that is producing changes in many societies, changes which are difficult to attribute to a single cause and which go far beyond politics and communication. [...] [W]e call this more general process ‘modernization’."

Furthermore, the term modernization is often used as an alternative to Americanization to emphasize that changes in political communication around the world are not only created by the U.S.-American ideals, but are also “rooted in a process of social change” which emerge from individual countries themselves. In this point of view the term modernization replaces the term Americanization.

The concept of using modernization as an alternative to Americanization has been criticized by Hallin and Mancini for carrying an evolutionist connotation, as “an implicit assumption that change is to be seen as ‘progress’, necessary and unilinear. It also lumps together many dimensions of change – technological, cultural, political, and economic – that need to be distinguished [...].” Nevertheless there are researchers who prefer using the term modernization instead of Americanization. [see also: Criticism]

In addition to the two different uses of the term modernization relating to Americanization, some studies use modernization as a synonym for Americanization.

Examples: Americanization in Europe and beyond 

Characteristics of Americanization in election campaign communication can be found in different countries all over the world. Nevertheless most research concentrates on Europe when analyzing this phenomenon.

Germany 

In Germany the “shopping model” of Americanization can be found, as German campaign managers get in contact with their colleagues from the United States, observe their campaign practices and adapt some strategies, but not without giving them a local, national spin. Nevertheless, a study of the election of 1990 shows that despite of the highly personalized election, the voters did not “fixate on candidate instead of on issues.” This shows that country-specific contexts of the political systems, such as the party-oriented election system in Germany, are relevant for changes in campaigning as well.

Great Britain 

Researchers discovered in the parliamentary election of 1997 in Great Britain similar campaign strategies of Tony Blair for New Labour and Bill Clinton. Studies talk about a Clintonization of political communication practices. Under the influence of America the structure of the Labour Party shifted “toward one more suitable for a media-based campaign, drawing on Clinton’s earlier experience”. For example, did the parties use rapid-response techniques, “to ensure that their message is not distorted through media and opposition attacks”. This technique pioneered in the Clinton campaign 1992.

Israel 

Since 1981, American political consultants have functioned as advisers during various election campaigns in Israel. In an article about American political consultants in Israel for the election of 1999 Journalist Adam Nagourney describes the imitated techniques:

“Sound bites, rapid response, repetition, wedge issues, ethnic exploitation, nightly polling, negative research, searing attack advertisements on television -- the familiar tools of American elections have now arrived in the Middle East.”

Criticism 

The concept of Americanization in election campaign communication has been criticized in different ways. In one point of view, critics argue that there are indeed changes in campaigning worldwide, but decline the term Americanization:

“The term Americanization proves to be primarily used by the media as a catchword to avoid complicated comparisons. Despite all the differences in the concrete campaign procedures, similarities are also observed [...].”

Focusing on the context of electoral systems as well, opponents of the Americanization concept criticize the one-sidedness of the strategy transfer from the US to other countries by forgetting the development of greater social structures.

Another point of view is the acceptance of the possibility of the concept itself, but the refusal of its impact. Even if Americanization is actually happening, not all changes in political campaigning can be ascribed to practices of the United States. Country-specific studies show that there is little to none  imitation of American campaign strategies. In the contrary it has been shown that campaigning worldwide is very hybrid. The concept of hybridization shows “country specific supplementation of traditional campaign practices with select features of the media-driven, postmodern style of campaigning.”

See also 
Americanization
Political campaign
Hybridization in political election campaign communication
Modernization
Transformation processes (media systems)

Notes

References 
 Butler, D., & Kavanagh, D. (1997). The British general election of 1997 . London: Macmillan.
 Crewe, I., Gosschalk, B., & Bartle, J. (1998): Political Communications: Why Labour won the general election of 1997 . London: Cass.
 Donges, P. (2000). Amerikanisierung, Professionalisierung, Modernisierung? Anmerkungen zu einigen amorphen Begriffen. In K. Kamps (Ed.), Trans-Atlantik – Trans-Portabel? Die Amerikanisierungsthese in der politischen Kommunikation  (pp. 27–40). Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.
 Gurevitch, M., & Blumler, J. G. (1990). Comparative research: The extending frontier. In D. L. Swanson (Ed.), New directions in political communication: A resource book  (pp. 305–325). Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage.
 Gurevitch, M., & Blumler, J. G. (2004). State of the art of comparative political communication research. Poised for maturity?. In F. Esser, & B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges (pp. 325–343). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Americanization, globalization, and secularization: Understanding the convergence of media systems and political communication. In F. Esser, & B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges (pp. 25–44). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Holtz-Bacha, C. (2000). Wahlkampf in Deutschland. Ein Fall bedingter Amerikanisierung. In K. Kamps (Ed.), Trans-Atlantik – Trans-Portabel? Die Amerikanisierungsthese in der politischen Kommunikation  (pp. 44–55). Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.
 Kamps, K. (2000). America ante Portas? Grundzüge der Amerikanisierungsthese. In K. Kamps (Ed.), Trans-Atlantik – Trans-Portabel? Die Amerikanisierungsthese in der politischen Kommunikation  (pp. 9–26). Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.
 Kleinsteuber, H. (2004). Comparing mass communication systems: Media formats, media contents, and media processes.  In F. Esser, & B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges  (pp. 64–86). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Mancini, P., & Swanson, D. L. (1996). Politics, media, and modern democracy: Introduction. In D. L. Swanson, & P. Mancini (Eds.), Politics, media and modern democracy. An international study of innovations in electoral campaigning and their consequences  (pp. 1–26). Westport: Praeger.
 Nagourney, A. (1999, April 25). Sound bites over Jerusalem. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/magazine/sound-bites-over-jerusalem.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
 Plasser, F., & Plasser, G. (2002). Global political campaigning. A worldwide analysis of campaign professionals and their practises. Westport: Praeger.
 Schoenbach, K. (1996). The “Americanization” of German election campaigns: Any impact on the voters? In D. L. Swanson, & P. Mancini (Eds.), Politics, media and modern democracy. An international study of innovations in electoral campaigning and their consequences  (pp. 91–104). Westport: Praeger.
 Schulz, W. (1997). Politische Kommunikation. Theoretische Ansätze und Ergebnisse empirischer Forschung. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

Further reading

 Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Americanization, globalization, and secularization: Understanding the convergence of media systems and political communication. In F. Esser, & B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Comparing political communication: theories, cases, and challenges (pp. 25–44). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Election campaigning