The evolving cultural identity of the Indian Film Industry

Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 Producing more than 1000 films annually, with 100 million enthusiasts worldwide in over 13 000 cinemas every week, the Indian film industry has taken the world by storm (Rangwala, 2007). In a country where Hinduism is seen as a way of life, it is surprising to see that cinemas have been dubbed “the temples of modern India”, by Das Gupta, an Indian film critic (Mishra, 2002). Fans have christened Amitabh Bachchan, the God of Indian cinema and Shah Rukh Khan, the King of Bollywood. Hundreds often make pilgrimages and flock outside the homes of these superstars to catch a glimpse.

The term Bollywood is a reference to Mumbai’s version of Hollywood. But both are worlds apart in terms of the number of films produced. Bollywood celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012 marking 1013 films made in comparison to 739 films produced by Hollywood (Aijaz, 2012). Bollywood movies enjoy a national and international market because they are made in Hindi - the national language of India. The first Hindi language film released was Raja Harishchandra, which was inspired by ‘The Life of Christ’. It was a silent film, produced in 1912 (Roy, 2013). Indian films were greatly influenced by wellliked stage shows of that era which gave them their own unique appeal and differentiated them from Hollywood. India’s independence from Britain in 1944 sparked the ‘Golden Age’ of Indian cinema where there was a blossoming of creativity. Some of the most critically acclaimed Indian films of all time were produced during this period. These films dealt with social themes, exploring working-class urban life in India. Mehboob Khan’s Mother India was produced in 1957, during the ‘Golden Age’. It went on to be nominated for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film (Goldeneraofindiancinema.blogspot.co.uk, 2014).

Living in the UK, one would think Bollywood hasn’t had a great impact. However, growing up, it has been a prominent part of life and popular culture. The films that were

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 watched together as a family were almost always Indian. Many of which were family oriented and conveyed moral messages. Bollywood dance has had a huge impact on Indian youth in the UK. Numerous dance schools have emerged in the past ten years, which has further popularized the Indian film industry. Attending a dance school increased interest in Indian cinema. It was a chance to further promote the culture to a contemporary audience, as they were able to relate to Bollywood films. It was interesting to see that non-Asians also attended the dance school and performed in a number of shows across the UK and Europe. One major difference between attitudes towards Indian dance in the UK compared to India is that many students here attend classes as an extra-curricular activity and a leisurely pastime. Students in India, however, take these classes seriously and want to achieve something long term out of it, such as getting into the film industry. Indian cinema has become an international language through its song and dance. Millions enjoy watching the drama unfold and listening to the upbeat dance numbers regardless of whether they understand the spoken language or not. Music and dance know no boundaries, cultures or languages and this may be the reason why Bollywood has gained so much popularity worldwide.

This essay aims to examine the catalyst involved in the increasing popularity of Indian cinema and how much of it has affected daily life and culture in India and abroad. It will also delve into ways in which the Indian film industry has transformed in terms of the themes explored in movies, advancing technology, the changing role of women in Indian cinema and what the future holds for the Indian film industry and its audiences. A comprehensive view of film critics, directors and audience has been incorporated in the body of the essay to gain a better understanding of the issues that impact the cultural identity of the Indian film industry.

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 There are two main streams of cinema in India: commercial and parallel. Commercial cinema has the sole aim of entertaining and making money in return (newspeechtopics.com). It involves common themes and stories that are popular with the audience. Parallel cinema aims at educating people on various social issues and highlighting problems in society such as dowry, abortion, corruption and poverty. This type of cinema is usually sidelined for the sake of maximizing profit and success.

A study comparing parallel and commercial Indian cinema by Muzamill (2014) found that there is a high level of audience involvement in commercial Indian movies compared to parallel cinema. This may be because commercial films tend to be made in genres of action and romance, which the audience prefers. The love portrayed in these movies seems attractive to the audience who tend to ignore the fact that the world isn’t just about these perfect ideals of romance. Another reason for high audience involvement in commercial movies is that they typically cast well-known actors. The study was conducted amongst five commercial movies and five parallel movies. The findings showed that all five commercial movies either won or were nominated for awards whereas only two parallel cinema movies were nominated or won an award. This shows that a majority of films in parallel cinema has seen a decline in appreciation from audience and critics. Anurag Kashyap, an Indian film director, believes that Bollywood is to blame for India’s inability to deal with reality (Rose, 2013). Kashyap says "In India, the burden of making people happy is on the movies, people always accuse me of making these dark, depressing movies. 'Why do you have to pick up on real issues? People are so exhausted and miserable.' So there's this constant pressure to dumb down. India is not a self-service country, we expect servants to do everything for us, and that's how our movies are. People stand back and they want the movie to explain itself to them.

Everything is so spoon-fed. And that's the big battle I've been fighting for a very long

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 time" (Rose, 2013). Indian films tend to almost always be shot in the studios, in London or America, where everything is clean and hygienic, a stark contrast to the real India. The audience doesn’t want to see the real India. They want to be transported into a foreign land of tall shiny buildings and fast cars.

An example of a film in parallel cinema is Fire (1996), directed by Deepa Mehta. This film involved a great deal of controversy as it dealt with a marriage going wrong and a subsequent lesbian affair between sisters-in-law (Stafford, 2013). The film dealt with issues that were against traditional Hindu ideas about marriage and the presentation of sexual relationships made the situation worse as they referred to Hindu mythology.

Nevertheless, Fire received a nomination for the Foreign Language Oscar in 2007 and was supported by many Indian film fans. Ironically, it was nominated before the official Indian entry, Rang De Basanti. Despite encountering problems in India, the film was critically acclaimed internationally. This shows that the audiences in India aren’t quite ready to break the taboo of same sex relationships and gender stereotypes, especially due to the fact that a large majority of the Indian population is Hindu.

Key filmmakers in India tend to steer clear of parallel films. A reason for this is that large production houses want to stay safe by replicating the same or similar content in their films. In this sense, filmmakers only concentrate on the profit rather than wanting to educate the masses. Films are an incredibly powerful tool for storytelling and the most effective means of mass communication. This is something that Indian filmmakers should take more advantage of, considering the social and economic state of India today, which involves much corruption and exploitation.

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 Hindi cinema has changed drastically in the past decade. It has gained an international audience of Indians who have migrated abroad but also non-Indians who enjoy experiencing the culture. As the audience and society change, so have the themes that are explored. One such theme is the issue of kissing and sex on screen. Sex has been a taboo in India for centuries. However, Indian history says that before the invasion of Mughals (Muslim rulers), the country had liberal views on sex. Prostitution was legal and prostitutes were respected. Sex was part of the culture. This is evident through the ‘Kama sutra’ (Quora.com, 2012). So why have Indians become so prudish? It is thought that the Mughals did have a role in making sex a taboo in India. In Islam, one is not permitted to have sexual intercourse or any kind of physical relationship with anyone except the spouse. Victorian prudery is also said to have had an influence on the country’s views on sex (Aditham, 2012). There is a lack of sex education in Indian schools, which leads to the backward mindedness of most individuals and unwillingness to accept this on screen, making it a subject to controversy for a long time. The first kiss shown in Indian Cinema was in 1933. Before the independence of India, films were much more bold in terms of what was shown. However, in 1952, the Cinematograph Act was introduced and kissing was barred on-screen, calling it obscene. Any form of intimacy was shown through the shaking of flowers, two birds coming together or the lights going off (Dev, 2014).

Directors are constantly pushing the boundaries in terms of what is permissible in sex scenes, yet rarely go far enough to have their films classified as A for adult by the Indian Film Censor Board. The aim is to not displease the paying audience. If a film were classified as A, there would be a decrease in the number of people wanting to watch it in cinema. Directors and production houses also want to keep up the image of Indian films being no skin, no-sex affairs (Arora, 2006). "Post independence, the kiss vanished into a miasma of prudery and false modesty and a misguided notion of what was Indian culture

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 and tradition and not,� said Shubhra Gupta, film critic for the Indian Express newspaper. It is important to note however, that in 1954, the Indian Prime Minister received a petition from a group of women who wanted to limit what was viewed as shameful in films (Ghosh, 2013). It is only now that new actors are more willing to experiment with kissing in front of the camera.

Indian cinema has indeed become more consumerist due to the large audience in the UK and US. London has played a crucial role in the globalization of Indian cinema, which has its highest profile in Britain, as it is the home to a large Indian population (Punathambekar, 2008). In 2012, there was a target audience of 2.3 million people in the UK (Statista, 2014). Filmmakers focus on this audience who have the means to go to the cinema and for this reason films are becoming more Westernized. This, along with the fact that Hollywood films have become increasingly popular in India, especially amongst the middle class, filmmakers are shifting from stereotypical, soppy romances to actionpacked thrillers.

Another significant factor in the changing themes is seen to be dependent upon key moments in Indian history. For example, during British rule, social scientists suggest that the Indian public suffered from a crisis of masculinity. This is reflected in Devdas (1935), which is about a weak man who is forbid from marrying a woman, which leads him into alcoholism. In the first films after independence, policemen and judges acquired more authority. The courtroom became a place where the truth cannot be denied. This was shown in Indian Cinema through Awaara (1951), where an erring judge was himself prosecuted in court (Raghavendra, 2013). This shows how social issues have affected and, more importantly, led Indian cinema.

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 Overall, there seems to be a clash between traditionalism and modernism in India, which is clearly shown through its films. Directors are becoming more modernist in terms of their filmmaking, however, the audience, particularly in rural areas, have not taken a liking to it and this has caused controversies and ultimately led to films being banned in certain parts of the country. One such film is Oh My God (2012), where a shopkeeper takes God to court when his shop is destroyed by an earthquake (IMDb, 2012). It was banned in several parts of India because it contained sensitive religious scenes. Having watched the film, it appeared to be a harmless comedy. The British Board of Film Classification has given it a low PG rating. A similar film, called PK, which deals with religion and its paraphernalia, has already made more than $89.8 million globally since its release on December 19th. Despite violent protests and debates, it has been dubbed Bollywood’s most successful film ever (Ghoshal, 2014). Having watched the film in a full cinema screen in London’s East End, PK came across as a lighthearted attempt at exposing India’s ‘Godmen’, who claim to have been sent from God himself to help the masses. It tried to convey the message that people should help the less fortunate rather than constantly trying to please God. Despite protests, the film has done well. This shows that the audience, in particular the youth, want to expose society for what it is and this can only be a good thing for the future of India. However, being a religious country, India is not ready to accept all themes and styles of filmmaking. Therefore, it is hard to say just how progressive the Indian film industry will be until the audience no longer tolerates it. Or will it be that the Indian mentality adjusts to the open-mindedness of Indian cinema?

A way in which the Indian film industry has transformed is through the changing role of women in Indian cinema. In 1913, women used to avoid getting into the film industry and it was left to male actors to play female characters. Acting was not considered a

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 decent profession for women. During this time, the only female applicants were prostitutes from Mumbai’s red-light areas, but even they backed out eventually due to the stigma attached to the profession. This meant that Raja Harishchandra, the first film produced in Indian cinema, had an all-male cast (Pandit, 2014).

Figure 2: Male actor, Anna Salunke, as Queen Taramati in Raja Harishchandra (Witch, 2015)

Today, despite being prominent characters in films, actresses believe that they aren’t being treated equal to their male counterparts. Kareena Kapoor (film actress) says, “I guess female actors are there for just dancing with. We have to stand behind Shah Rukh and Salman Khan (film actors) and say, 'Hey! I'm here too, give me something to do.'

And the pay cheques, what Salman gets and what I get... let's not even go into that" (Mahadevan, 2012). At a time when women are breaking free of taboos and stereotypes, cinema doesn’t seem to reflect the shifting social trend. The number of women entering the film industry has gone up manifold, but in terms of screen space, their roles have shrunk (tntmagazine.in, 2014). This may be because Bollywood is deviating towards action packed films with hunky men as the centre of attention and women have merely become pleasant things to look at. Kapoor also says, "I was in Los Angeles when I got to know that Salt was actually written for Tom Cruise. And Angelina Jolie was actually the

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 second choice; it wasn't Brad Pitt or anyone else. In India, there's no such choice”. It is also interesting to note that there has never been a female actress who has been as popular as Shah Rukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan. The audience has put these male actors on pedestals but the same cannot be said for any female actress. Does this reflect the exploitation and inferiority of women in India? On the upside, these issues have seen the emergence of woman-centric films such as Queen, Mary Kom and Heroine. All of which focus on the role of women in India today. A number of these films have done incredibly well at the box-office, but more importantly, they have been an attempt at giving women the status and respect in Indian society.

The role of women in Indian cinema has undeniably changed throughout the years. It looks to be a positive change on the surface, due to the number of women entering the industry. However, in several films, actresses are only cast to do a dance number to provide entertainment, without any real role in the film. In this sense Indian cinema has the power to prevent further violations against women in India, by changing the Indian mentality regarding women.

An element of Indian cinema that is rapidly progressing is the technological advancements. The genre of science fiction has been prevalent in the Indian film industry since the second half of the 20th century (sciencefictionlab.edu, 2014). Sci-fi brought about technological developments, which were shown through Koi…Mil Gaya, the most successful film of 2003. Yet, even this science fiction had an element of romance. Have the Indian audience become so accustomed to musicals that they are unable to digest a simple storyline and pure fiction? The song and dance routine is an intrinsic part of Bollywood. This may be because Indian cinema is derived from folk theatre. Folk plays were forms of entertainment in rural India, which have now evolved

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 into the cinema we see today. Music and dance is also an inherent part of Indian culture, which is perhaps why the audience is so adapted to it. A large number of films would be deemed a pathetic attempt at filmmaking were it not for the songs. Indian film directors have been generally mediocre, especially in the 60s and 70s (Quora.com, 2011). In contrast, music composers have been exceptional. If it were not for the music, a fair few of the films produced today would be considered below average. It is also big business for the production houses as a huge amount of revenue for a film is said to come from music album sales (Kabra, 2011). However, it has to be taken into consideration that Koi… Mil Gaya was the most successful film of 2003. This speaks volumes about what the audience enjoy in terms of sci-fi and advancing technology.

A way in which the Indian film industry is adapting to changing technologies is the construction of Reliance MediaWorks Studios in Mumbai, which was completed in 2011 (Raghavendra, 2011). It houses India’s first ‘Hollywood benchmarked’ sound stages that attract the entire film and television industry as a one stop destination for all their production needs. It is designed by Los Angeles based Wylie Carter Architects. Raj Kumar Hirani, a well-known Indian director, commented “We had a great time filming at Reliance MediaWorks Studios, things were made much easier by the access to all the facilities and having everything we needed at our fingertips. I was very impressed with the level of detail and focus on Western standards that went into building the sound stages and the supporting workshops” (Indiantelevision.com, 2013).

A prime advantage of technology for filmmakers is that it has made movie making more affordable. Producers are more willing to invest in a small-budget film; even it is made by first-time directors (bbc.co.uk, 2014). This means that there are more opportunities for up-and-coming directors to showcase their talents. However, it cannot be ignored that

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 the advancements in technology in the Indian film industry are way behind than that of Hollywood. The main reason for this is the revenue. A Hollywood film with the advancing technologies costs a great deal but it also makes a huge amount of profit. Such films do not gross as well in India, as ticket prices are much lower. This is an interesting point, which will be further expanded upon.

The fantasy epic ‘Kochadaiiyaan’, produced in 2014, marked a technological advance for Indian Cinema. The film featured the same 3D photorealistic performance capture technology used in ‘Avatar’. The film was shot mostly at Pinewood Studios in the UK and London-based Centroid Studios, which offers full body motion capture technology (hollywoodreporter.com, 2014). This shows how the Indian film industry is progressing in terms of the resources that are being used. Films are being made on a scale fit for an international audience. However, some filmmakers believe, despite the advancing technology, the Indian storytelling needs to adapt to the sensibilities of a global audience.

For example, an Indian film titled ‘The Lunchbox’ is an example of a film that can travel.

It is about “a mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system which connects a young housewife to an older man in the dusk of his life as they build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox” (IMDb, 2013). Although there is advancement in technology, experts have said these films do not relate very well to people who do not have access to cinemas or cannot afford it. These people are pretty much becoming irrelevant to the film industry. Bollywood is yet to evolve a cinematic language that communicates on a more global scale. In this sense, the distinctiveness of the Indian film industry needs to develop.

The rise of another online technology presents a major challenge to the film industry.

Online piracy is escalating and is set to replace physical piracy. According to an Ernst &

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 Young 2008 report on ‘The Effects of Counterfeiting and Piracy on India’s Entertainment Industry,’ the Indian film industry lost $959 million and 571 jobs in that year due to piracy. In India 90% of all piracy begins with a recording by camcorders in cinema halls on the opening weekend of a film’s release (Barooah, 2013). This is why films have to make as much money at the box office within the first few days and the success of a movie is based upon how much is made in the first weekend of release.

However, many producers are happy with the current box-office fortunes and have said that there is no evidence to show that online piracy is affecting profits (Masnick, 2013).

The reason for this seems to be because films are being released at the same time all across the world. There used to be a time when it took between three months and a year for a film to be released elsewhere. During this time, pirates distributed illegal copies.

Another way in which film studios are tackling piracy is through the increase in films being shot in digital 3D, as it is not possible to record a 3D movie and post it online.

Having said that, there is the potential danger of a growing online piracy market.

Currently it is not so prominent and this may be due to poor broadband infrastructure in India. Many pirate film websites are running on advertisements and donations from consumers, which is proving to be successful (Scaria, 2014). This shows the demand for the products and the strength of the market.

This leads us onto the Indian audience and their experience of Indian cinema. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan once said, 'Cinema is for entertainment. If you want to send messages, there's the postal service' (highlife.com, 2013), and entertain, it truly does.

Aside from the film, the cinema-going experience in India is entertainment in itself.

There is an incredibly interactive style of viewing. The audience cheer, shout or throw things at the screen in appreciation or commiseration of the performance. From personal experience, the audience is seen to scream for an encore at the end of a dance number.

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 The theatre management will often oblige by replaying the song. However, this is only something that can be truly experienced and appreciated at the country’s dingy, singlescreen cinema halls. With the rise of new multiplexes, which encourage Western viewing habits, people are encouraged to keep quiet during performances. This certainly takes away from the authentic viewing experience of Indian films.

The Indian audience can be compared to the Elizabethan audience. Papp and Kirkland (1988) write, “They would leave no doubt in anyone’s mind as to their reactions to the performance. When they liked what they saw, they laughed loudly and long.” The similarity with the Indian audience is prominent. However, this rowdy behaviour is often looked down upon by the upper classes. The caste system is still prominent in modern day India. This has translated into the middle and lower classes, which is reflected in the seating arrangements inside a cinema. The pit audiences, usually younger lower income men take the cheapest front row seats. This crowd is typically loud and raucous. The pricier back rows, and balcony seats are for the folk who dress up for going to the cinema and look down upon the lower classes.

Figure 3: Young men at a single screen theatre (Jonathon Torgovnik, 2014)

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 In India, the cinema is a social experience, where even Hollywood movies have intervals.

This gives viewers the chance to talk to others and buy snacks (Sinha, 2014). There is a concept of selective viewing in Indian cinema, coined by Mittman (1984), who said that rather than sitting through the whole film, the audience selects what they want to watch.

This is similar to the spectators of plays in the 16th and 17th centuries who stood about during the spectacle. One viewer said he went to see the film for the music and dance and how the songs fit in. Once these were over, he would leave. Many viewers base the success of a film on whether they have got their moneys worth, and this is often dependent upon the music (Srinivas, 1998).

Social issues have had an effect on cinema going in India. The 2012 Delhi rape case discouraged young women from going out alone. Urban middle-class workingwomen would usually go to an evening show with their families, and avoid the matinee show. In a study on the urban population in South India, Sarah Dickey (1993) found that “the public stigma attached to cinema caused most people to deny any interest in it”. Another study of Hindi film audiences reveals that viewers may experience embarrassment at watching movies that are recognised as entertainment for the masses and therefore as low culture (Srinivas, 1998). This is supported by an interview with a woman who lived in India during her adolescent years who says that young adults, especially girls were forbid from going to the cinema alone as it was seen to be a corrupting and shameful environment. This, however, is not an issue that has been experienced here in the UK. Therefore these studies must be culture-specific. Findings like these have had an effect on the Indian film industry as director, Yash Chopra, says, “We must make clean and decent entertainers. I shouldn’t feel ashamed to sit with members of my family in a movie theatre” (Express Magazine, 1997). In contrast, due to the variety of films that are being made, there is a rise in multiplex cinemas and the middle class’ newfound wealth

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 and appetite for leisure means “going to multiscreen cinemas is a family outing every other weekend. That means people are seeing 25 to 30 films a year,” says Arindam Chaudhuri, a film producer (Ramesh, 2008). It is important however not to overemphasize the enormity of the Indian cinema market as less than 4 percent of Indians go to the movies regularly (Ghosh, 2013). Karan Johar, a film director, said: "Of the 1.2 billion population of India, movies should reach out to at least 300 million people (the size of India’s middle class). But currently, our reach is limited to 45 million. If we figure out how to cover this gap, it will be a game-changer." A reason for this may be the limited number of cinemas in India. From an interview with a resident of Dombivli, a town in Mumbai, it was found that there are only two cinemas within close proximity.

India does not have that many cinemas for people to go to. There are less than 13 000, compared to almost 40 000 in the US (Ghosh, 2013).

The black marketing of cinema tickets is an industry in itself, which works against the Indian audience, film industry and the law. Individuals buy a number of tickets for a popular show, making the screen a ‘full house’. They then sell the tickets at extortionate rates around the corner from the cinema. The audience is often willing to pay these prices and youngsters selling these tickets could easily make a profit of Rs. 1000 on the first two days of the movie (The Hindu, 2009). Black marketing of tickets exists because of a demand supply disparity. There is clearly a lack of cinema halls catering for the increase in demand. Largely, black tickets exist because theatre management and the local police allow it to or even participate in it. There is a larger issue of police corruption throughout India, which should be dealt with first and foremost if the black market is to be tackled.

Popular actor, Anil Kapoor, thinks that the reason why the Indian film industry has a low

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 reach is because filmmakers do not think globally. "Our content, our intent, our performances, our aesthetics are all localised. That's the difference between the two," he says, when comparing it to Hollywood. "We celebrate if our films do a maximum $20m of business. That's peanuts in a way. Films in Hollywood are doing $2bn to $2.5bn or more. That's the difference in terms of budgets and scale" (Kannan, 2013). In support of this statement from Anil Kapoor, an interview found that although cinema halls were not in good condition 20 years ago, people still visited because the quality of films being made were exceptional. Nowadays, even though cinemas have become more modernized, the quality of filmmaking has decreased which means fewer people are willing to spend their hard earned cash at the cinema. According to bollywoodcountry.com, although gross revenue has almost tripled since 2004, Hollywood still generates a much higher income annually. This is largely due to ticket prices being much lower in India compared to the US. Indian net hourly earnings are relatively low at $0.70 per hour but the average cinema ticket is also very low at $0.19.

This results in an average of 16.6 minutes work to earn enough money to buy a cinema ticket (ZDNet, 2005).

It is interesting to note that producers and distributors of Indian films have found it incredibly difficult to enter the Chinese market. It is only recently that there has been a sudden surge of Bollywood films in China. The popularity is gaining momentum and this may be because of technological advancements, the sound system and the quality of movies. Films that are easier to travel yet retain all the Bollywood elements generally do well abroad. It is also important to note that, “according to the Chinese government, only 34 foreign films are allowed to be released every year out of which only 5 films are from Bollywood and the rest include other International films which is majorly dominated by Hollywood” (Adarsh, 2014). This may be another reason why it is so

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 difficult to retain loyalty amongst the Chinese audience. However, with the right content, it is possible to do this.

Film is a reflection of society, both past and present. They are key artefacts that offer a window into the evolving cultural and social history of a country or community. They present views of gender, class, romance and violence and offer multifaceted interpretations. Although films reflect society, Indian cinema is seen to lead society on several occasions, such as the rise of woman-centric films that have led to the increased respect of women in India. In contrast, films that were made on modest resources that dealt with Indians who belonged to the lower classes have almost been wiped out.

The catalyst for change in the Indian film industry seems to be the audience and the demand for more Westernized movies, especially amongst the urbanites. The international audience has also had an impact on the film industry. This audience has the potential to grow immensely, if the script writing was improved upon. If Bollywood wants to attract a paying public of non-Indian origin then it has to bridge this gap to be truly called an international entertainment industry. Indian cinema is all about huge investment with heavy returns. Despite this, Mahesh Bhatt, a film director, says, “we are bankrupt in our story department”.

It is fair to say that the Indian film industry has everything going for it – be it the spending habits of consumers, the foreign investment and the earnings enabled by advancing technology. Yet, Indian cinema could be a phenomenon worldwide if they improve their storytelling thus catering to a global audience, which has been untapped to date. Conversely, one foresees a future for it as an international brand, which only has limited connections to the Indian nation, like Coca-Cola is a global brand, no longer

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 fundamentally American. Is Indian cinema ultimately bowing down to the Western habits of its audiences? Or can it retain its distinctiveness as an intrinsically Indian entertainment industry?

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Quora.com, (2014). Why does nearly every Bollywood movie seem to incorporate singing and dancing even when it disrupts the story flow? - Quora. [online] Available at: http://www.quora.com/Why-does-nearly-every-Bollywood-movieseem-to-incorporate-singing-and-dancing-even-when-it-disrupts-the-story-flow [Accessed 17 Dec. 2014].

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Chandni Kavaiya INTD 3001 Image Sources Figure 1 Hf.uio.no, (2015). Bollywood: A Shaker, Maker or Breaker of Society? - Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages. [online] Available at: http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/network/ikos-austincollaboration/Events/conferences-and-events/bollywood%3A-a-shaker-maker-orbreaker-of-society.html [Accessed 5 Jan. 2015].

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