Stumbling to Bollywood’s power: A critical analysis of Hollywood’s (mis)adventures in the Indian culture market

• In Event: The Power of Bollywood: Prospects for Indian Soft Power in the Asian Century

Abstract

The nature of film industry is intrinsically different from other media (Bagdikian, 2004; Bettig & Hall, 2003). It is relatively free from the governmental regulation and heavily relies on attracting viewers for generating revenues. Wasko (2004) argues that film industry should be considered as “commodities produced and distributed within a capitalist industrial structure” (p. 132). Thus, film industries tend to produce cultural commodities that could ensure profit maximization using synergistic practices, mutual cooperation, and coproductions across the globe. By 2009, the temptation to enter into the burgeoning Indian film market was so irresistible that Jim Gianopulos, co-chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment, made a beeline for Shahrukh Khan and Karan Johar – the most significant players in Bollywood – rather than the usual Hollywood stars at that year’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony. In an interview with the New York Times, Gianopulos urged Hollywood studios to be humble and cooperate with the Mumbai-based Indian film industry on equal terms if they want to thrive in a movie-mad country like India (Chopra, 2009). This avid gesticulation heralds the beginning of a symbiotic relationship between the two behemoth industries; since 2007, major Hollywood studios have been engaged in coproductions with Bollywood, relying on Indian actors and directors instead of Hollywood stars. The developing relationship between the two major actors of the motion picture industry – Hollywood and Bollywood – raises important questions regarding the political economy of the global film industry. Global operations of large movie industries lead to concentration of ownership and power. Several studies have discussed the patterns of concentration and consolidation in the film industry in the United States and Europe and have criticized the takeover of the culture industry by a few large transnational, transindustrial corporations. However, Hollywood's engagement with Bollywood is a recent phenomenon, beginning with the release of Saawariya by Sony in November 2007. The objective of this paper is to examine the nature and magnitude of investments by Hollywood majors in Bollywood projects using a critical political economic approach. This paper seeks to answer important questions related to wealth, power, and ideology. Because the objective of the movie industry is market dominance through cooperation and concentration, it is important to look into the political and economic repercussions of joint ventures between global entertainment industries. Critical political economy will be used as analytical strategy and conceptual framework to evaluate the consequences of increasing cooperation between Hollywood film studios and the Indian film industry.

Authors

• Azmat Rasul, Florida State U

• Stephen D. McDowell, Florida State U

• Barbara Corley Robinson, Florida State U

• Mudassir Mukhtar, National U of Modern Languages

• Defne Bilir, Florida State U