Can Bollywood Go Global?

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Multiplex films – Starting from the 1990s, India saw the rise of a young, urban population that had significant exposure to Western media and entertainment. This population also had a higher disposable income than previous generations. With the increasing number of urban moviegoers who were English-speaking and well versed in Western culture, a large number of young Indian filmmakers began experimenting with urban-focused themes that deviated significantly from the Bollywood song and dance extravaganzas. These films typically targeted only the urban Indian consumers and hence the number of prints developed for these films was much lower than those developed for films targeting a wider demographic

Crossover films – These movies, while Indian, were not of the typical masala mold. Music continued to play an important role in many of these films, but was woven into the story in a more realistic manner than the abrupt dance sequences more common in masala movies. The success of these films proved the potential success of Indian-based content in an international market. Such movies introduced a world audience to Indian perspectives on various issues and play on Indian stereotypes in a way that furthers an understanding of such Indian clichés.

Problems in the Indian Film Industry.

- Bollywood is the largest film industry in the world. It produces almost double the movies produced in Hollywood. But still it is not able to compete with Hollywood.

- Bollywood struggles with issues like funding, high taxes, corruption and language barriers.

- Current Indian expatriates continue to foster strong local connections

- Though Indian Cinema has been exposed to global forces, it has its own set of drawbacks. Piracy and Hollywood overshadow still haunt the Indian Cinema.

Globalization: The current scenario and the upcoming future

Is the film business really Global? A global business is one which is able to successfully sell the same product all over the world. So yes we can say that the film business is actually global because one can sell the same movie all over the world. Though some minor changes might be required to cater to local needs like adding subtitles or dubbed audio, but the overall content of a film remains the same.

The million-dollar question however is: Can Bollywood go global? I believe that Bollywood film industry is the perfect candidate for attempting to enter the global film market. The below analysis highlights the key changes that Bollywood has to undertake in order to create an established global presence.

Key Differences In Bollywood And Hollywood And Changes Required If Indian Film Industry Has To Go Global

- Actor recognition: Hollywood actors are globally recognized. On the other hand, Bollywood actors are just starting to gain recognition around the world. For instance, Shilpa Shetty has recently starred in a reality tv show and also a TV series recently. Other examples include Irfan Khann, Mallika Sherawat and Nasiruddin Shah. Bollywood actors need to gain more recognition if they are to attract crowds globally.

- Language Barrier: Another issue with Bollywood is that of the language barrier. India has movies made in around 22 major national languages while Hollywood is only limited to English which is spoken in many many more countries globally as compared to any of the Indian Languages. The effect of this barrier can be lessened by using subtitles, however, it may not be as effective as having English audio in the movies.

- Revenue: In terms of revenue, Hollywood has much greater annual sales as compared to Bollywood even with lesser number of films per year. There is a dire need to produce quality films that are able to bind the crowd to their seats, rather than having movies that only attract crowd for once.

- Length: Another difference is in the length of the movies. Typical Bollywood movies last around 3 hours or so if not more. While Hollywood movies are limited to 2 hours on an average. This shows a global preference for movies with a shorter duration. This is another area where Indian film industry has to make changes, if it is to compete globally.

- Songs: Indian movies have atleast 7-8 songs in every movie. The reason being added revenue due to music albums and also a way of promoting the movie. Global audience on the other hand doesn’t like to have breaks in the movie. So this is a domain where changes are required.

- Theme: Indian movies are mostly centered around family life and love life though there is a recent surge in movies belonging to diverse genres as well. Hollywood on the other hand caters to all possible genres and has a movie for every kind of audience.

Based on the above facts and recent developments, I think that Bollywood can indeed go global if it is able to resolve the differences between Indian and US film industry. A big step towards achieving this would be Indo-US film partnerships. Crossover films are a way of implementing the same. This also helps to create a more homogenous market where viewers across the globe are able to watch all kinds of genres and taste the flavors of Indian culture as well. Also the government has to be lenient and wave off taxes on usage of higher technology which are required for producing high quality special effects. This would help Indian film makers to show the kind of effects shown in movies like Avatar, Gravity, the Matrix etc. Having joint ventures is also a key step since it will allow directors to use resources from both industries and create something worth watching. So in summary, the differences between Hollywood and Bollywood need to dissipate in order to be successful in its effort to globalize.

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