The Globalization of Bollywood: An Ethnography of Non-Elite Audiences in India

Abstract

There has been a growing Western interest in Bollywood, India's large film industry based in Mumbai. This article attempts to find the ways in which Indian identity is being shaped by the new globalizing Bollywood and how non-elite audiences from lower middle class and rural India are understanding these images. This ethnography reveal that the non-elite audiences find themselves increasingly distanced from the images that Indian cinema is constructing. The films are creating an elitism constituted by the brand logic of transnational capital which is redefining the meaning of the masses.

(Re)producing borders and bodies: masculinity and nationalism in Indian cultural texts

“…Similarly, the privatization of Indian television, as Mitra (1993) notes, helped to expedite the importation of more programs and more domestic content created by multinational companies. Thanks to foreign investment in the Indian film and television industries, scholars such as Gopinath (2005) and Rao (2007) have pointed out that nationalized masculinity in Indian cultural texts conforms more neatly to globalization, as an increasing number of Indian films have been produced for transnational consumption. In fact, Mehta (2011) points out that the cluster of Indian and foreign firms involved in the commodification of India via popular culture make up 'India Inc.', which helped integrate Bollywood into the global mainstream.…”

‘Shining Indians’: Diaspora and Exemplarity in Bollywood

“…Film-watching is a central practice in the reenactment of Indianness (through the congregation of, very often, ethnic-clad but geographically dispersed migrants) in diaspora, while being one of the most common forms of entertainment in India. But this does not systematically entail the adoption of filmi NRIs as role models as a few ethnographers have found out (Rao 2007, Punathambekar 2005. On the one hand, migrant audiences seem to appreciate the references to a lifestyle certified as authentic, to religion, respect for the family and the patriarchal system, i.e.…”

“…It marked the renewed affection of the middle class for cinema halls, breaking hence all revenue records, and began, only three years after the liberalization of the Indian economy, a trend of unabashed consumerism advocated on the big screen (Alessandrini 2001: 324-5). All major blockbusters in the next ten years, a majority of which focused on NRIs, promoted consumption of generally imported brands through international product placements while key actors became known as brand ambassadors and dramatically increased their income through advertising (Rao 2007, Uberoi 1998. These films showcase a 'designer India' (Punathambekar 2005: 158) and NRIs act in them as facilitators (Prasad M. 2003) of the transition between a State-controlled Nehruvian socialist economy and an increasingly open national market.…”

“Machi Open the Bottle!” Glorification of Alcohol and Stalking in Tamil Film Songs

“…In her ethnographic research on globalization of Bollywood, Rao (2007) emphasizes the dominance of music in Indian films and asserts that it is a distinguishing feature and narrative of Indian films. Besides, Indian film music contributes to the economy of the music industry and is crucial for the sale of music rights which might recover most of the budget of the film.…”