I think it is a fallacy to think that Bollywood, in its present state can be truly global. While it is true that some Indian themed movies have fared well at the BO, they have been made by Indian diaspora and are structured according to the western mold of film making. Indian films may fare well in UK, but they struggle in the US (the largest market). THis market is fairly choosy and most foreign made films do badly. Very few succeed and they usually have a western theme (Holocaust, Ballroom dancing, etc)or message. Indian films in Bollywood may be able to carve a niche in the US market and be appreciated by a few, but to consider that they would capture the heartland of America (Mid west, plains) would be outrageous. You have to lived here and experienced American tastes to know what the audience wants. I think that PR people and other idnividuals are going crazy with the hype of some films like Lagan (Which did very poorly in the US market).
The article mentions that cost of making a hollywood movie is around $200 million. I don't think that is the average figure. Even if it is true, it is true probably for less than 5% of the movies. Around 80% of the movies are made at or below 50-75 million dollars
This always bug me, we guys always try to think that indian movie have to go global.since its big, great blah blah..we can increase exports, help economy and show thr world outside, we too are good. Why is it needed ??
There is no effect of indian movies on any other products in india itself, except clothes. We dont even have a theme park on any great movie ..SHOLAY make a great subject for theme park. There is no big games also based on movie. First of all lets do something to tap the great middle class in INDIA. Which makes our industry more stonger financial..letz sature our market first. Then think global !!
Look at US, for people here world is US. NFL finals is called World Cup, Baseball finals is called World series. See the amount of impact these games have on US economy. We dont have to go global and incr our exports to help economy. By concentrating more on local front, we can help our economy better.
Coming to show the people that we too r great. I dont think we need to. Everybody knowns how big our industry is. Movie making has to be someone thoughts presented the way he/she wants. And not teh way world wants. If someone does it, and world likes it. Then itz ok. And why do be need world nods ?? R not india people views enough ?? Is that only when u get OSCAR we feel the movie is great.
Anyways, i am not against what the author wrote !! These are just my views.
So can Bollywood go global? Ya!!! It's already gone global!!!
I know many, many people who are of non-Indian descent who love these films. Japan, China and Korea are mad for these films (I was in Tokyo when they played 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and it drew full houses everynight that it was playing...) Russia and Eastern Europe has been showing them on TV for decades. There are pure-blooded Russians out there who speak fluent Hindi, because they basically grew up on Bollywood films at a time when Communist rule prohibited Western influences through media (and I guess Indian channels were the only ones they received). On the African continent (where there has been a rather substantial Indian community for generations), locals pack out-door theatres and drive-ins to watch the most recent release (and I can attest to this personally because I attended a show in Congo and the local Africans were singing along to all the Bollywood songs). The UK has a HUGE Indian community and it's rumoured that the Windsor's (the queen included) love Bollywood films... I could go on and on and on...
Infact, most of my friends (non-Indians) were onto these films before I was and I'm the Indian! And we keep passing the word around... That is how it will gain acceptance, through word-of-mouth!!!
So has Bollywood goen global? Hell Yah!!! A very long time ago... I can't believe that the media is only catching on now!
Having seen the way film production takes place in India and then working on an American feature project I saw a sharp contrast between the professionalism of Ameerican independents when compared to the so-called amateurish "pros" in India. It's time professional managers in India entered the movie industry. But that can happen only when the industry starts functioning like IT and other industries - driven by trained professionals instead of whimsical mobsters.
Maybe if someone convinces the right wing conservatives in that instead of complaining about Western culture "eroding" Indian values, the government might do well to empower the Indian entertainment industry to successfuly export Indian popular culture to America.
Script writers who can actually come up with decent scripts, directors who will try new things. Bollywood was able to impress the world(somewhat) with Lagaan and Devdas, however a hundred more clones will not.
By and large a nice article. But I suspect the numbers the author quotes(do we have sources?) are grossly inflated. Does it really take $200 million to make an average Hollywood movie? Doubt it. It would be more in the region of $50-$75million is what I think, otherwise there would be hardly ANY hits(check Boxofficeguru.com to check stats). Yes there those which take more than $100mill to make but then heck they would have to be in the STAR WARS league(i think $115mill prod.budget and 25mill mkt cost was what it cost to make ATTACK OF THE CLONES, source http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=starwars2.htm).
Also is there a target diaspora of 20 million Indians in the UK & US? That is more like the WORLDIDE diaspora of Indians (as per Bheeshm Agnihotri's speech at a recent speech at a local cultural event).
But it is a question of positioning Bollywood movies right and hence also packaging it correctly. If they found a way of creating prints without the 'necessary' song-n-dance sequences for the overseas audiences (meaning of non-Indian origin) then there would be a market. Learning from the experiences of global conglomerates would be way to go right. If McDonalds comes to India and tailors its burgers to local tastes and Pizza Hut does the same why cannot Bollywood do the same with its movies. Its downright myopic to say that 'they' will need to learn to appreciate it the way we make them. That's a damnably lazy and lame excuse.
Just my 2 cent opinion.
Raghu Kulkarni an ordinary Bollywood film fanatic - We Are Like This Only!
I am very surprised to see sometimes that how my fellows Indians try to label some movies as Indian. As an example in this article "Can Bollywood go global" Mr. George Francis is calling Bend it like Beckham to be a Indian Movie. Do you know Sir that Gurinder Chadda was not born in India. And who knows how much time she spent in India to be called a Indian. Same applies to the case when people call Manoj N. Shayamlam as Indian. He left India when he was a little kid and grew up in US. What is so Indian about him except that he is Indian by blood? The mare name Bollywood suggests that we love to copy everything from everybody ALMOST all the time. I have seen so many Indian movies with almost entire scene copied from a Hollywood movie. Even the unwanted songs which kill the flow of the movies are on many occasions copied from songs of other cultures. Very few Indian movies really make you think. Most of them are downright shallow and worthless. Sorry if I hurt anybody's feelings but if you would think with a open mind, then its all true.
