Identifying Bollywood as a crucial factor of India’s economic development: A review analysis Bouka Eleni and Merkouri, Maria-Marina and Metaxas, Theodore

 During the last two decades, Bollywood, India’s film industry has become the biggest worldwide film industry in terms of film production size. With more than 27 thousand films, and around 1000 films per year, Bollywood’s movies have spread all round the world.

Bollywood first appeared around 1912 in Bombay, India. Its history abroad can be traced to small screenings in college rooms and movies watched by expatriate Indians during the late 1960’s and 1970’s. During those years, in both the U.S. and the UK, it was very rare to find Indian community centers and even less common, any media related to India’s cultural values. The future development of Bollywood and the Indian film industry wouldn’t have been the same without these spaces where people from the community could wear traditional clothes and take part in activities that reminded them of “home” (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 4).

During the end of the 1990’s India’s presence in the media grew. Bollywood’s movies, broadcasted on television and online were thought of as memories and nostalgia, helping expatriated Indian families uphold their cultural traditions (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 4). Soon the West’s interest in Bollywood increased and its blockbusters were exported into American and British markets. The expansion of the Indian film industry was bound to cultural identity from its very beginning (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 5).

During the 1990’s Bollywood’s movies took a turn. From depicting harsh situations and Bombay’s reality since the early 1950’s films, the “New Bollywood” was born. Globalization arrived and films started representing scenes of materialism, cars, clothes and were even made in English language. Bollywood’s attempt to enter the new markets increased its distance from the lower middle and rural classes (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 6).

Soon, Bollywood aimed to become the biggest global economic power in the cinema industry. The consequences were fast, “suddenly India’s urban landscape was filled with foreign publicity and companies” (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 7). In the blink of an eye Bollywood became a global industry, supporting 40% of India’s income. In 2005 while Hollywood released 535 films, Bollywood sold over a thousand. Dominating the world 's film production (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 12).

During the 1950’s Indian migration to countries that offered better education and job opportunities increased. By the year 2000, Indian families living in the United States and the United Kingdom found through Bollywood a way to interact with their culture (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 15). The “Indian Diaspora” increased the demand of Bollywood’s films in America and the U.K. attracting investments, distribution and promotion.

Bollywood became very important for the identity of the Indian Diaspora, reflecting India’s values, on community, duty and solidarity; its national identity and ethnicity. (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, pp. 14-17).

Nowadays Bollywood produces around a thousand films each year. Over the last century it has been an impressive example of economic growth in India. Thanks to globalization, the migration of Indian families and new technologies and techniques, Bollywood is now among the largest film industries in the world, maintaining an interesting interdependence with the Indian economy (Bouka, Merkouri and Metaxas, 2015, p. 21).

 

Reference:

Bouka, Eleni & Merkouri, Maria-Marina & Metaxas, Theodore, 2015. “Identifying Bollywood as a crucial factor of India’s economic development: A review Analysis”, MPRA Paper, University Library of Munich, Germany https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/64658.html

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