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Bollywood Spectaculars Author(s): Priya Jaikumar Reviewed work(s): Source: World Literature Today, Vol. 77, No. 3/4 (Oct. - Dec., 2003), pp. 24-29 Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40158170 . Accessed: 16/03/2012 10:49
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Contemporary

Directors

of Note

director Mani Rathnam (born 1956), Roja(1992) director Shekhar Kapur (born 1945), BanditQueen (1994) director Aparna Sen (bom 1945), Mr and Mrs Iyer (2002)

SPECTACULARS KSOLLUWOob
PRIYA JAIKUMAR

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s a three-year-old member the film audience, I was transfixed the irreof by y/J (1970).As a "bioscopewalli" a village woman pressibleMumtazin Dushtnan sy^^^^ 4tm0^ Minar Ijj^ with a bioscopeshowingviews of Indiancities she sang,"Dillika Kuttub dekho . . ." (see the QutubMinarof Delhi),which I memorizedand repeatedlystaged for hapless adults. I was remindedof this performance oriented,sociallygregariouscinophiliaof Indiaon my visit home lastsummer.My motherand I sat in a crampedtraincompartment a Sikhfamilyeruptas ed into danceto a song fromthe year'shit film, Gadar, Prem Ek Katha In our cubicle,swaying (2001). to a blastingboom box and the train'smotion,a young boy moved fluidly to "IkMod Aaya,Main Uthhe dil chhod aaya"(I came upon a turn on the road, where I left my heart).Littlesurprise,I muscleremainsunableto dislodgeIndia'sfilm industryon thought,thatHollywood'stransnational its home turf. Filmin Indiais a prolificand inundatingmedium.Filmstars'facesadornfruit-juice stands,and film music reverberates shops, publicbuses, taxis, and auto-rickshaws. in Gossipmagazinesabout actorsand actresses roadsidenewspaperstalls.Popularmusicand televisionshows drawon films fill for inspiration. Film calibratesthe lives of Indianswho have followed it for years, markingtheir and moods with fashions,dialogues,and lyricsspawnedby the mammothindustry.Indian decades film directors actorscontinueto use the spectacular, and visceral,and socialappealof Indiancinema to their economic advantage.And the Indian film industry continues to hold its own despite which frequentlymeans the erosion of autonomyand selfHollywood's aggressiveglobalization, in determination developingmarkets. A purelycelebratory narrative, however,misses many things.Review the domestictradepress in India,and you learnthatthe industryis facinga cashcrunch,with few filmsmakingmoneyat the box office.Considerfilm industriesin the restof the subcontinent, partsof Africa,the MiddleEast, in or and of Fiji,Mauritius, Malaysia, Indiancinemais too dominanta forceto fit descriptions Davidfacin interested ing off Hollywood'sGoliath.Discusscensorshipand fundingoptionswith filmmakers alternative formsof Indiancinema,and they will tell you of struggleswith the Central Boardof Film Certification the NationalFilmDevelopmentCorporation India.Brieflymisplaceyour culturalor of studies lenses that illuminatethe complexityof textualcontradictions receptioncontexts,and the or film industrybegins to look startlingly an ideologicalbehemoth. like Bombay the our Gadar, film that so enraptured train'sdancingchild, was aboutan IndianSikhbattling odds to be reunitedwith his Muslimwife, kidnappedby her evil Pakistani father.Coinimpossible ciding with a rise in sectarianpoliticsin India,we live in an era in which technological expertise, increased and in nationforeigninvestment, stateinterest the industryarecouplingwith conservative alismand reactionary socialvalues.Withbroadstrokes,in what followsI wish to introduce some key have approached cinemaandto delineate this some analyticframeworks throughwhichfilmscholars of the complexities the contemporary of film industry. Bombay Exulting over the recent successof the Indianfilm Lagaan nominatedforan Oscarin thebest (2001), film category,the NewYork Times an articleon what it called"Bombay's ran film foreign over-the-top We might argue that Hollywood's style of filmmakingcontainsits own industry, Bollywood."1

Normative Influences

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Lagaan (2001), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker,reached international audiences and was nominated for an Oscar in the best foreign film category.

brandsof exaggeration (unless someone wants to convinceme that Spielbergis understated). Nevertheless,what strikesanyone fed on a diet of mainstream Hollywood films encountering an equally mainstream Hindi film for the first time is its high emotionalismand apparentlack of subtlety (or the prominent and music. In this display of artifice)in sets, acting,narrative, success may be attributable its to sense, lugaan'stransnational of Hindi cinema's formal and thematic elements adaptation (such as song and dance, Indian values versus a mercenary narto Westerntropes(of a single-stranded modernity) familiar rativeand psychologically motivatedcharacterization). Typically, Hindi film refuses to play by Westernnorms of realism.If Hollywood has techniquesthat permit its fictionalworld to appear internallycoherentand invisibly put together,Indian films are orchestrated anothersensibilityof coherenceand by reality. in This relationshipto Hollywood cinema is incorporated the epithet "Bollywood/7a parodic and cheeky echo of the filmindustry,a mimicrythatis both a response NorthAmerican and a dismissal.Undeniably,Hollywood (and now U.S. television shows) serve as a sourcefor story and plot ideas for some Hindi films and televisionprograms, they are one of multibut and folktraditions fromwhichIndiple theatrical, popular,epic, an cinema's traditionsof representation have evolved, each mediatedand transformed domesticsocialand marketpresby sures.A historicalperspectiveis criticalto an understanding of Indiancinema. the formalparticularities contemporary of and Theorists historians observethatSanskrit theater,Parsi and and folk theater, Hindu epics (theRamayana Mahabtheater, have been significantinfluenceson mainstreamIndian harata) cinema.2 Whileno director worthhis or her weight in box-office ticketstoday readsthe Sanskritic some of the forNatyaShastra, malelementsof Hindicinema suchas the ritualistic openingof severalfilmswith a prayerbeforethe creditroll;the inalienable betweendrama,music,and dance;an actor'sdirect relationship

address to audiences with a consequentfrontalityto staged with of action;a preponderance burlesqueroutinesintegrated dramatic,tragic,and action-oriented episodes may be traced formdisof the to oldertexts.Stressing antiquity theirtheatrical tractsfrom the ways in which they becameprominentduring the nineteenthcentury,in conflictand confluencewith colonial and influential theater art.3 theatrical, dance, Formally, European Indiaemphasized in and pictorialrepresentations precinematic confrontations, spectacular epic structures, episodic narratives, and and melodramatic somaticexpressiveness, earlyIndian and cinemadrew fromthis dramatic palette.4 India'sfirstfeatureswere Pundalik (1912;directedby P. R. et al.) and RajaHarishchandra (1913;directedby D. G. Tipnis filmswith a nationalflavorwere popular Phalke). Mythological themselvesfrom with Indiansbecausesuch films distinguished in foreignimports.However,the "local" Indiawas diverseand divisive. If the largestpopulationspoke Hindi, an equallysignificantsegment spoke Assamese,Bengali,Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi,Oriya, Punjabi,Tamil, and Telugu. To Malayalam, some, the visualor linguisticpotentialof cinemadid not seem to The residewithinsuchdomesticcacophony. notionof silentfilm as a simultaneouslynationalistexpressionand a "universal" language,with an abilityto transcendlinguisticboundariesin crisisin India terms of reception,underwenta very particular with the inceptionof sound technology. Despitethese concerns,as earlyas 1927it was evidentthat at Indianfilms were profitable the box office,even thoughthey in number than importedfilms and the raw film were fewer was for stockrequired indigenousproduction leviedwith a high Dahan imperial customs duty. Mythologicalfilms like Lanka Janma (1918)yielded ten times theircost of (1917)and Krishna In productionas profitto the producers.5 part,this successwas attributable the fact that Indianfilms developeda visuallanto distinctive guage and formalqualitiesthatwere simultaneously and broadin theirappeal. fromHollywood cinema

Masaia 'Trtms

in Three key studios formedin the 1930s New Theaters Calin Bombay. Several in cutta,Prabhat Pune,and BombayTalkies smallerproductioncompaniesalso emerged,such as Imperial FilmCompany(whichmade India'sfirstsound film,AlamAm, in 1931),Wadia Movietone,RanjitMovietone,MinervaMoviin etone, and MadrasUnited ArtistsCorporation. Filmmaking India began to attractthe attentionof independentproducers and directorswith its promiseof profit.For the film industry, would hirestarsand facilithis meantthatemergingproducers which underminedthe studio systies for single-filmprojects, film. Historically, 1940sare seen as the the tem and the "genre" film"cameintoits film"or "masaia at which the "formula point own. Masaia here refersliterallyto a blend of Indianspices that adds flavor to food, and metaphoricallyto the necessary

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combination filmicingredientsthatbest guarof stagesof manuthroughsuccessive,progressive anteeshigh returnson investment.Masalafilms facture.In an affiliatedmanner,the constituent were a consequenceof producersand directors parts of the Hindi film- its stars, its dialogue numbers have trying to ensure that every film had a fighting sequences,its song-and-dance chanceto reap good profits in the absenceof a a stand-alone quality with a heterogeneous studio infrastructure by incorporatingsomerangeof appealwithinthe film'sloose narrative in the film for everyone.Eachfilm had a litframework.7Narrative has less significance thing tle actionand some romance with a touchof comwhen a film is shot to showcasecompetingelements, such as the song-and-dance sequences edy, drama,tragedy,music,and dance. Indianfilms make little sense when viewed that are marketed prior to a film's release. filmgenres.No fromthe perspective American of Whetheror not a song has narrative justificaIndian film is a musical or action film because tion, these primarilyvisual and auralsegments Indianfilm is a musicaland has mainstream have the capacityof reachinga cross-linguistic every some actionsequences;such categoriesof differaudience, and directorsaiming for box-office entiationcan no longer apply here. Openingthe success create occasionsfor them. Formalconhave of an Indianvideo collectionguide on my ventions as well as audienceanticipation pages beenbuiltaroundsuchoccasionsovertheyears. bookshelf,I find films listed under the familiar of and as "Social," "Family descriptors "Romance," Predictability, Rosie Thomas points out, is Drama." I also find films under the headers partof the pleasureofferedby Hindi films.8 "GoodMusic,"and 'Trag"Offbeat," "Dacoity," ic LoveStory," which areas usefuland legitimate as any othergenregrouping!6 Indianfilms are best understoodthrougha and Hai discernment the gradations historical of shifts Stillfrom Hum Aapke Hain Kaun Recently, the film Dil Chahta (2001) brought (1994), directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya. within In polyvalent,layerednarratives. the 1970s togethera cast of threewell-knownmale stars crises frequentlyrevolved around melodramatic (Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna,and Saif Ali Khan)to play urban,upper-middle-class single tropesof brothersseparatedat birth,as in Yaadon kiBaaraat and Amar, the men who arebuddies despitehavingdifferentattitudesto relaAkbar, (1973) (1977). Anthony Invariably, brothersalso had conflictsof interest.In Yaadon Baaraat, ki does not believein love, prethe tionships.AamirKhan'scharacter eldest of three siblings centralto the story is coercedby gang- ferring casual flings. Saif Ali Khan's characteris incurably sters to kidnap his younger brother's girlfriend.In Deewar romantic, to gettingattached the wrongwomen.AkshayeKhana smugglerbattlesto deathwith his cop brother, a meetingof mindsand findshis idealin a divorced (1975), leaving na looks for theirmotherwith an awful choiceand one dead son. Thoughno woman several years his senior (played by Dimple Kapadia, hit was film, Bobby, a phenomenal in longerpopulartropes,filiallove and conflictappearin different whose 1973breakthrough HainKaun(2000), its time). ways today. In the sweeping hit HumAapke theirromantic love forfamof youngersiblingsprepareto sacrifice Thougha majority Hindi filmsin recentyearshave been Dil until fate (and divinity) intervenesto assist romancesdealingwith young lovers and theirtribulations, ily responsibilities them.All these films are melodramas, Hai combinesong and dance Chahta standsout fromsimilarreleases.Theyoung men are and routineswith romance, containplots with incredible coinci- rich, but not in the mannerof recent Hindi films that depict dences and deus ex machinadevices. When held in relationto industrialists with politiciansin theirpocketsand marblestaireachother,however,Amar Akbar and are Anthony Deewar action cases in their mansions.They have comfortablerelationships films whereas Yaadonki Baraatand Hum AapkeHain Kaun shade with theirparents, as who arenot portrayed completeautocrats. off in the directionof romanticand musical dramas.Tracking (Autocratic in are familiarcharacters Hindi films,with parents element of these texts yields synchronicsimilarities the dictatorial fathertypicallyplayed by AmrishPuri and the any single and diachronic fatherby Alok Nath. Filmsthus operateby repevarietyin termsof form,content,and ideology. good-natured film scholarMadhavaPrasadsuggests a con- tition and variation.)The men do not entertainthe archetypal Insightfully, nectionbetweenBombaycinema'somnibusaestheticform and do-or-die approach to friendship, family, or love. The film its productionprocess.The dominantfilm industryin India,he exploressome shadesof grayin relationships, allowingthemto argues, is akin to the "heterogeneousmode of production" have conversations(and sing songs) about their varying attidescribed KarlMarx,whereinevery componentis manufac- tudes to romance.A few factorsmake this toned-downversion by tured separatelyand assembledinto one product at the final of Hindi cinema's moral universe permissible. The stars' are stage rather than developed from the same raw material appearances westernized.AamirKhansportsa soul patch,

'Westernization

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Typically, Hindi film refuses to play by Western norms of realism. If Hollywood has techniques that permit its fictional world to appear internally coherent and invisibly put together, Indian films are orchestrated by another sensibility of coherence and reality.
which made thatsmall tuft of hairunderthe lower lip popular amongurbanIndianyouth. Thereare also enough denimjackets, sunglasses,and hair gel in the film for a spiky, youthful jauntiness. Second,whateveralternative lifestylesare flirtedwith, the inveterateplayboyAamirKhanwants a marriedlife when he meets the right woman, and Akshaye Khan'sunconventional love is terminated the alcoholismof the older woman, who by dies of a bad liver.Althoughappearances change conveniently is and AamirKhan'scharacter able to travelbetweenIndiaand with ease, the values ratifiedby the film are those of Australia and malebrotherhood, familialrelationships, matrimony, entrethe upwardmobility.Thus,it incorporates ideology preneurial Hindi (and dominantlyHindu) and mainstream of traditional films with a more liberalizedand westernized contemporary India. The film's style, treatment,and narrativeresolution are of symptomatic the challengesHindifilmsface today:a viewerwatchesMTVand ChannelV (India'smusic channel) ship that a and desiresthe VJ'sand DJ'sattireand lifestyles; newly privain tized marketplace which Indian films have to compete, in termsof techniqueand popularappeal,with youth programmingfromall over the world;and a growing,upwardlymobile, betweentheirneed and youngaudiencethatseekscompatibility for conspicuousconsumptionand the dominantconsensuson Hai "Indian values."Dil Chahta containsstylisticand thematic normsthatare upheld as "Indian" maneuversto accommodate whichhavebeen alongwith lifestylesof excessiveconsumerism, West.Thesenegotiations with the industrial hithertoassociated are most explicitin films that depict "Non ResidentIndians" (NRIsor Indiansliving abroad),who constitutean important partof the Indianbox officetoday and who have appearedas a Dulnew character type in Hindi films.In films such as Dilwale as NRIsareportrayed he hania Jayenge (2001), (1995)and Yaadein wealthyyet faithfullyin possessionof the essenceof incredibly which is equatedwith devotionto family,hospi"Indianness," to friends,modesty amid extremewealth, piety, tality,loyalty and to and an adherence the rulesof patriarchy monogamy. these films, one experiencesa sense of deja vu. Watching of Theyarereminiscent similarperiodswhen thenationencounmarketforcesand fashionsof the West,when popular teredthe was where "Indianness" Hindifilmsrespondedwith narratives defined against a corrupt "West/' with the abstractionsfreand quentlyembodiedin femalecharacters theirchoices.In IndiIndira ra MA. (1934),the educated centralfemale character, to a marries westernizedman in preference a tradi(Sulochana), In tionalone. She is punishedby a life of misfortune. HareRama Hare Krishna (1973), the hero's sexually liberated, bell bottom-sportingsister (ZeenatAman)becomes the centerof a hippie cult, advocating drugs and free love. She meets an untimely death while her brother'ssupportive, sari-wearing is (Mumtaz) rewardedwith a marriedlife. girlfriend With every threat of cultural importation,mainstream Hindi films have found different ways of exorcising the onslaughtby assertingtheirIndianidentitywith the latesttechnew themeswithnologicalor markettrend.They incorporate out straying too far from conservativeideologies of sexual behavioror socialrelationsin orderto consolidatetheirnationand repulse alist appeal,narrowthe potentialfor controversy, To foreigncompetition. stateit morestrongly,the evocationand to of has creation "Indianness" been a corollary India'seconomwhich has frequently ic liberalization, producedan ultraconservative and reactionarynotion of the "indigenous."Current "Indian Bank(the self-proclaimed for advertisements the ICICI in the North Americanedition of the face of globalbanking") Indian Express providea succinctvisual prototypeof such a culturalmaneuver.The advertisements object depict a "Western" with an "Indian" touch,such as the frontbumperof an imported carwith a lime and greenchilieshangingfromit, to evadethe evil eye. "Modern, Indian,"states the advertisingcopy.9To yet that it readthe advertisement perversely, is, interpreting against can find a happy its intent: consumerismand obscurantism in coexistence the upwardlymobileIndianmiddle classes. Filmsthat have not had to dependentirelyon the marketfor of theirfunding,on the otherhand, have had a strongtradition therehas beena sigsocialand politicalinterrogation. Typically, who caterto thebox office nificantdistancebetweenfilmmakers and those attemptingto deviate from the formulaand explore new formsof aestheticexpressionor ideologicalcritique.Since India's independence from British rule in 1947, government funding has been one source for such projects.SatyajitRay's filmFather Panchali acclaimed (1955)was partialinternationally of fundedby the Home Publicity Department the government ly of of WestBengal(thoughthiswas morea consequence the Benwith Ray'sfamilythan due to chief minister'sacquaintance gal any consistentgovernmentpolicy).Of variousgovernmentinitiatives,the one to have the most enduringimpactwas the Film FinanceCorporation (i960), establishedto providelow-interest loans to independentprojects.The effects of this were not felt more until the late 1960s,as the governmentgrew increasingly

Local anb QLobai'Varieties

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industriesoutside Bombaythat have produced interventionistin film aesthetics and productranarrative distinctivecinemas,with histories, tion, deviatingfrom previous policies of limitand fan followingsthatrunparalleland their involvement to the production of ditions, ing in competition Bollywoodcinema. to instructional documentaries.By the 1970s,the The devoted fan base of Teluguand Tamil governmentactivelyassisted in the production of film starsand the rich filmmakingtraditions of whatwas deemed "goodcinema/7Thisdovetailed with the establishment a film institute of Kerala and Calcuttahave always provided a in Pune (Filmand TelevisionInstituteof India, to counterpoint Bombaycinema.As the domior FTII), where prospectivefilmmakers, nant industry,Bombayhas consistentlydrawn actors, and technicianswere exposed to several interupon the creativetalent of popular actorsand nationalcinemas.Studentswere trainedin an directorsworking in Madras and Calcuttato environmentthat fostered socialist intellectual increase its appeal to national audiences and traditions and encouraged an evolution of capitalizeon regionalbox-officesuccesses.The most recentsuccessstoryis of the SouthIndian styles outside the commercialmode of Indian Filmin India is an inundating mediThe ManiRathnam, who has earneda popfilmmaking.10 FTHcame to be the home of um, and film-gossip magazines fill director severalactorsand directorsassociatedwith the newspaper stands, as seen in this acclaimin both ularfollowingas well as critical April 2002 issue of Stardust "New IndianCinema/7 is southandnorthIndia.ManiRathnam among (www.stardustindia.com). film In oppositionto the mainstream industhe few Indian directorswho startedmaking try, cinema in this mode follows a primarily films in Tamiland releaseddubbedHindi verrealist traditionof filmmaking,with affinitiesto the styles of sions aftertheir (1992)and Bomregionalsuccess.His filmsRoja De Renoir, Ska, Bresson,and Tati.The two films thatarerecogand Telugu.Along bay(1995)were successfulin Tamil,Hindi, Shome nized as the beginningof this movement Bhuvan (1969; with Dil Se(1998), thesefilmsconstitute partof a trilogy,dealing directedby MrinalSen) and UskeRoti(1969;directedby Mani with themesof terrorism Indianmasculiniand communalism, Kaul) were both financedby the FFC While realism is the urban-rural well as north-southIndianrelaas ty, femininity, cinema(so named for dominantstyle of this formof "parallel77 vision.RathnanVs productions,all with a unity of artistic high it the alternative offersto mainstream films),modernistsensibil- tion values and his films7unusual soundtracks, composedby ities are also present,as in the work of RitvikGhatakand those A. R. Rahman(now a leading name in Indianmusic),set new influenced him. by standards Hindi popularcinema. for It is usually considered easy to discern the differences The regional crossover to the national arena has been between mainstreamand alternativecinemas,as they deviate echoed on a more global scale as Indian filmmakershave along the lines of aesthetics,politics, funding, and ambitions. A. work on foreign collaborations. R. Rahman'smusic In However, certainfactorscomplicatethis bifurcation. main- begun is more global than national today. He has composed music of streamfilms,the prominence songs canpermitspacesthatare and sampled Bollywood soundtracksfor the new Broadway not "policed77 vigorously.Attentionto film lyrics and miseas Dreams Andrew Lloyd Weberand Shekhar show Bombay by en-sceneshow thatthey reachfor sentimentsthatarenarrativefilms such as Bandit " Queen[1994],Elizabeth MeenaKumari7sAjeebDastanHai Kapur(directorof or repressed. ly unexplored most recently,FourFeathers Moreover,the [2002]). Yeh77 Dil ApnaAur PreetParai(i960) is a song of her unful- [1998],and, in Fire (1996) and filled and illicit desire for a man engaged to marry another recent internationalsuccess of films such as Earth Wedding (1998;both directedby Deepa Mehta),Monsoon woman, whom she barely dares to look at in the narrative (2003; (2002;directedby MiraNair), and BendIt LikeBeckham acclaimedactorand directorGuru Dutt7s sequences.Critically directedby GurinderChadha),from the South Asian diaspofilmsfeaturesome of the most powerfuland sociallysubversive ra in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada,reinmany of his lyricswere writtenby prosongs. Not surprisingly, KaifiAzmi, who was also actively forcesthe notion thatIndiancinemais reachingWesternaudigressivepoet and songwriter involved in India'sCommunistPartyand the IndianPeople's ences. Categorizing the diaspora films alongside popular Theater Movement(IPTA). Createdin 1943,IPTAwas an asso- Indian cinema misses their cosmopolitannature,in that they ciationthataimedto makearta focalpoint in strugglesfor eco- are made by directors who live outside India and are nomicjusticeand democracy. movementstartedin theater, informed by Indian as well as Hollywood and European The Their mode of address is self-conbut several people associated with it came to be actively styles of filmmaking.11 involved with cinema.The presenceof creativepersonnelwho sciously international: they are producedas English-language crossedover frompoliticaltheaterand arthas been one reason films and shot with a transnationalproductionunit. Neverwithin mainstream theless, these new films have given non-Indianaudiences a for stylistic and thematicexperimentation Another important source has been film whiff of India'spopular film aesthetic. Bombay films.

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Indiancinema's Moresalientto a discussionof mainstream global outreachis the fact that, as of March2002,the government of India allowed 100 percent foreign direct investment and into the advertising film sectorsin India.Priorto this, (FDI) had Promotion Board(FIPB) to approve the Foreign Investment With with foreigninvestmentin excess of 74 percent.12 projects it has become easierfor of the relaxation protectionist policies, foreigncapitalto enter India,and foreignbusinessesare more investedin sellingIndiato theirglobalcustomersas a prepackthe to Thus,unsurprisingly, accompany openagedcommodity. Dreams, Selfridgessold Bollywooding of the musicalBombay influenced music and fashions, MAC (the U.S. cosmetics "Indian" colorsin nailpolishand kohleye introduced company) and salons in New York reintroducedhenna body pencils, painting,this time studdedwith Swarovskicrystals.13 in Mediaprofessionals Indiahave largelyacceptedthis as a In their opinion, it createsworldwide publicityas good sign. and well as moreconsumers viewerswho areamenableto Indian productsand goods, whetherthese be cosmeticsor media Still, programming.14 Indian filmmakersare faced with the films that anticipatea choiceof eithermakinghigh-investment release in the domestic as well as international market,even such large-scalecoordinationfrequently delays the though film'sIndianreleaseand risksheavy losses, or makingfilms on smallerbudgets that appeal to specific marketswithin India. is Basedon the past decade,the indication thatfilms combining slickproduction values,conservative messages,family-oriented dramas, publicityreceivereagood music,and strongprerelease sonablereturnsat the domesticbox office. A recentcover story on Indian cinema in the LA. Weekly is optimisticabout the crossoverpotentialof Indian romantic melodramasin the United States.In the article,itself as clear an indicationas any of the increasingNorth Americanawareness and interest in Bollywood films, the author notes that "one can easily imagine some of the more mild-mannered Bollywood films catching on with the older, family-oriented crowd (my parents love Indian Fat GreekWedding My Big or even with opera queens and Broadway-musical musicals), In fans."15 my perception,it is only when we take the recent resurgenceof family-orientedBollywood melodramasout of their context that they appear mild-mannered.Within India, their ideology reinforces a conservative, patriarchal, and repressivefamily ethic in the face of economic liberalization and social change. While it is impossible to predict whether mainstreamIndian films will acquirea niche audience in the United States in any enduring way, the increasedglobal initiatives and influx of foreign monetary and technological facilitiesin India have contributedto more rigidly nationalist definitionsof culturalidentity in mainstreamIndian cinema.

1Ruth La Ferla,"Kitschwith a Niche: It's Bollywood Chic/' New York Times, May 5, 2002,9. 2 Parsis are Zoroastrian Persianswho emigratedto India during the eighth century,fleeing to protecttheirreligionafterthe fall of the SassanianEmpirein Iran. They were primarilygiven refuge in the Indian region of Gujarat. Examplesof folk theaterinclude RamLila and Krishna from U. P. Maharashtra's Lila NauTamasha, Rajasthan's and others.For furtherdetails, see ErikBarnouw tanki,Bengal'sJatra and S. Krishnaswamy,IndianFilm (New York: Oxford University Cinema Press, 1980).In IndianPopular (New Delhi: OrientLongman, 1998),K. Moti Gokulsingand Wimal Dissanayakeprovide an introductory discussion. In 'Towards a TheoreticalCritiqueof Bombay Cinema,"Screen no. 3-4 (May-August1985):133-46,VijayMishra 26, considersthe structural influenceof Indianepics on its films.
3 See M. Madhava Prasad, Ideology of the Hindi Film: A Historical

Construction (Delhi:Oxford University Press, 1998).In his introduction, Prasadoffersa concise summaryof recentargumentsthat relate India'spopularcinematicaesthetics(such as those of frontality,spectacle, iconicity,and so on) to modernityand nationalismratherthan to antiquity.
4 See Suresh Chabria, ed., Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema,

1912-1934(New Delhi: Wiley Eastern,1994), especially Ashish RaSilentCinema:A Viewer'sView"(25-40). essay, "India's jadhyaksha's

5 Evidence, vol. 1 of Report of the Indian CinematographCommittee

of Government IndiaCentralPublication Branch, 1927-1928(Calcutta: 1928),348. 6Dacoitis the Indian-English word for a bandit. 7Prasad,Ideology theHindiFilm,especiallypages 42-51. of 8 Rosie Thomas, "Indian Cinema: Pleasures and Popularity," Screen no. 3-4 (1985):130. 26, 9 TheIndianExpress (NorthAmericanedition) 3, no. 38 (February
28, 2003): 3.

10 details, see Prasad, For Ideology theHindiFilm,especiallypart of Cinein National 2; and SumitaS. Chakravorty, Popular Identity Indian ma,1947-1987(Austin:Universityof TexasPress, 1993). 11 is GurinderChadha,in particular, a blackBritishfilmmakerand not a first-generation immigrant. 12 March22, Clears100PercentFDIin Films,"Screen, "Government
2002, 1.

13 with a Niche,"9. RuthLa Ferla,"Kitsch 14 the words of the CEOof JainTV, one of India'sTV channels: In "Now that many of the foreignchannelsare becoming India-centric, money for softwareexport will be easy to come by for Indian channels" (quoted by Nivedita Mookerjiand KrishnaGopalan,"Finally, There's No Biz Like Show-Biz," Screen 27, October 2001 [www.screenindia.com]). 15 LA. Weekly no. 16 (March7-13, 2003):31. 25,

Priya Jaikumaris Assistant Professor at the University of Schoolof Cinemaand Television,where SouthernCalifornia's courses on film genshe teachesgraduateand undergraduate media, res, film aesthetics,postcolonial theory, transnational and national cinemas. She specializes in British and Indian Journal cinema, and her recent work has appeared in Cinema (2000), Screen (2002), and The Moving Image (forthcoming, 2003). She is currentlycompleting a book manuscripttitled "Cinemaat the End of Empire:Britainand India, 1927-1947/' Previously,she taughtfilm studies at SyracuseUniversityand SouthernCalifornia worked as a broadcastjournalistin New Delhi, India. Universityof

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