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@article{202699,
        author = {Tharun Akash ML and Dr. S Santosh},
        title = {A STUDY ON THE USE OF DOUBLE ACTING IN TAMIL CINEMA SCREENPLAYS},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {12},
        pages = {10227-10237},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=202699},
        abstract = {Tamil cinema has long employed the technique of double acting as one of its most enduring and culturally significant narrative conventions. This research investigates the structural, thematic, and visual dimensions of double acting as deployed in the screenplays of four landmark Tamil films: Jeans (1998), Maatran (2012), 24 (2016), and Mersal (2017). Selected to represent different decades, genres, and directorial approaches, these films collectively chart the evolution of double acting from a primarily entertainment-driven device to a sophisticated instrument of emotional, ethical, and socio-political storytelling. The study employs a qualitative methodology integrating textual and narrative analysis, thematic mapping, metric scoring, coded scene analysis, and film-wise frame analysis. Theoretical grounding is provided by duality theory (binary opposition), psychoanalytic theory (Freudian and Jungian frameworks of identity), and auteur theory. Findings demonstrate that double acting in Tamil cinema has evolved through three discernible stages entertainment, emotional complexity, and ideological engagement and that visual language, including framing, lighting, colour palette, and shot composition, has developed into an integral narrative system rather than a purely aesthetic accompaniment. The study further explores how Tamil star culture, with specific reference to the personas of Vijay, Suriya, and Prashanth, actively shapes the construction of dual characters at the screenplay stage, negotiating between dramatic logic and commercial imperatives. The results contribute to the growing body of scholarship on South Indian cinema and specifically to the underdeveloped field of Tamil screenplay studies.},
        keywords = {Double Acting, Tamil Cinema, Screenplay Structure, Dual Characterisation, Star Culture, Narrative Analysis, South Indian Cinema},
        month = {May},
        }