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Southern Stars, an ongoing exhibition by photographer Clare Arni, features paraphernalia from South Indian cinema's golden age and is a shrine to cinema legends like Dr Rajkumar

- MAHIMA NAGARAJU

The golden age of South Indian cinema saw the rise of icons like Dr Rajkumar, MG Ramachandran (MGR), Shivaji Ganesan and NT Rama Rao, who grew to almost god-like statures and gained similar, lasting adoration from the public. Whether you grew up watching iconic Kannada films of the '60s and '70s, listening to snatches of a stray tune, catching glimpses of posters in the city and images on autos – the impact these stars had on people's lives can still be felt.

Clare Arni's ongoing exhibition Southern Stars, is a tribute to these cinematic figures and those who love them still. "I grew up in Madurai in the 1970s and there was no television yet. So, the imagery that surrounded me was that of MGR, Shivaji Ganesan and film stars like that. It's been a sort of lifelong fascination," she says.