04-03 Bollywood

As a boy of eight during WW2, I remember lining up to see my favourite cowboy movie at the local theatre. There would be at least 300 children in line and all with a can of bacon fat. Glycerine to make nitroglycerine. It was so exciting.
Well. I saw the same excitement in Fiji with long lines of Indian children waiting to see their favourite film. It was the first time I saw the global reach of what they call Bollywood. Hindi movies made in Mumbai, formerly called Bombay.
What was special about that trip to Fiji was having dinner with an Indian family in the capital city of Suva. It gave me an opportunity to talk about movies with five young children. I never experienced anything like it. When we discovered we had all seen the same movie, the children clapped. The movies to them were like a religion.
I asked them how much it cost to see a movie, and it was only about 50 cents. Apparently, Bollywood sell lots of tickets around the world, but they do not generate the revenues of Hollywood.
Certainly the colour, music, costumes and Indian stars have global appeal, and Bollywood movies are shown in major markets around the world. Hard to believe how popular Bollywood movies are in China dubbed into the local dialect.
The Indian film industry is the biggest in the world and that includes movies made not just in Hindi but a range of other languages. But it is Bollywood movies that have the global impact.
The underlying political impact of Bollywood will be the acceptance of Hindi culture and their views on women, work, marriage, family and that kind of thing. Movies impact people’s values.
Keep your eye on India. It is a democratic nation with a diverse culture that will soon be the most populous country in the world. Their power is the size of their educated, English-speaking youth.
And as the developed world deals with manpower shortages linked to declining birth rates, look to India exporting labour. And look to India’s most famous export, Bollywood movies, to sell India’s view of the world.
The nations of Europe and North America may see China as a threat, and it is. India, on the other hand, will be a strategic ally.
Speaking personally, I will start to love India when it shuts down its telemarketing industry. Hate those bloody phone calls.