Indian Film Industry…. Bollywood…….The Phenomenon

It’s been 5 years and I’ve lived and or worked in 5 countries (including India) and still measuring the impact and reach of an industry which we call Bollywood. Though to the purists the term “Bollywood” is derogatory but whoever coined it has managed to localize it internationally. In this globalized era where Indian companies such as the Infosys, Tata’s, Wipro’s etc have been trying to break the geographical barriers and make their presence felt on the world stage, for Bollywood it seems, it has been there done that.

Amitabh Bacchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee are discussed and adored in the remotest corners of countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, US, UK and should I mention the rest of the world. Religious festivals and occasions such as weddings are celebrated Bollywood style nowadays. If you are tourist in a foreign country or within India itself, rest assured the guide will let you know where Shah Rukh took Priety Zinta in her arms or where Hrithik Roshan danced with Amisha Patel. Yes, I was told at Golconda fort (Hyderabad) first about where Salman Khan (Indian film actor) shot for a scene in one of his movie rather and only later where the Kohinoor diamond was extracted from. So what really makes Bollywood click all across the world?

An average Indian has never traveled as much before as he has in the last decade or so. I recently put down the list of my Indian friends and their respective locations and to my amazement 80% of them are either permanently based outside or constantly globe trotting. Their locations also include countries like South Africa, Romania, Libya etc. Indian people admit it or not are gripped to the magic of Indian cinema and it is the only medicine to cure homesickness when you are away in far distant land. When Sunny Deol shouts “Hindustan Zindabad”, we all shout in unison; when Priety Zinta sings and dances in the Mumbai rain, we are with her in that moment, feeling the rain fall on our own body. If the Italians introduced their truly wonderful Pizza’s to the world we are introducing our cinema. Previously we were regarded as the people who came from the land of Taj Mahal and snake charmers, we now are known from the country of IT and Bollywood.

I read a book recently called “Maximum City” by Suketu Mehta and also quite agree with the author’s observations on the success of Bollywood or Indian cinema. He with his discussions with various Indian film stars, directors etc notes that the biggest draw of Indian cinema’s success is the fact that the audiences just love the fact that Indian movies are family oriented. It’s a potpourri of various human emotions. On the other hand though highly experimental, original and unique, Hollywood has been primarily showing them images of alien land and people but missing out on showcasing of what we call celebration of life.



The colorful dresses, extravagant set, dancing and romancing, all help create an Indian movie a super spectacle. It definitely creates an intriguing image which holds foot in the minds of the audiences nationally and globally. Indian cinema/Bollywood has created a niche for itself globally and is much talked about around the world, be it in media or the social circles. India as a destination has enchanted many people globally and the Indian films are just helping the cause on the way.

I am a big critic of Indian cinema myself as I think around 80% of the movies made each year are just a waste. They are there to waste the time of the audience coming to watch it. Long melodramatic scenes, unnecessary dance sequences, the hero single handedly managing to kill an army of goons, loose special effects, there just seem to be no limit to it.

To me all the stuff mentioned above may be absurd but for an Indian (either living in India or abroad) it is the only source of entering some sort of a fantasy land where the good will always win over the evil, joint family system always works in the end and in approximately 100 Rupees or 10 dollars will be able to travel to 10 different countries. And especially for the Indians living abroad Indian movies represent the contemporary India and one of the ways in which they can track the changing nature of things back in their motherland.

Hate it or Love it, Indian films are creating ripples all across the globe. With some new breed of directors, Indian cinema has off-late started experimenting with new themes and concepts and an increased use of the English language has also helped draw the western audiences to the theatres. Films such as Water, Omkara through its box office success and recognition at various film festivals have shown that Indian cinema has entered a new phase.

It is not just the films but Indian actors are also going global. Actors such as Om Puri, Naseerudin Shah, Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai and many others have worked for Hollywood productions. And why just talk about Indian actors going global or Indian film makers involved in Hollywood film making, big production houses of the west are investing like never before in producing Indian films.

India produces maximum number of films every year and thanks to our over billion mark population and a booming economy the time is not far off when we dictate the world the kind of cinema we want to watch. So Tom Cruise get ready to do learn the Govinda jhatka’s and Lindsay Lohan, the Aishwarya matka’s (a bit extreme scenario but we’ll get there :) )