How Bollywood is conquering the world

In Casablanca’s old medina, as in other places around north Africa and the Middle East, it is common to see copies of the latest Hollywood and European blockbusters among the scores of pirated DVDs. But increasingly on the photocopied covers appear the faces of Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta and other big names of Indian cinema.

It is all part of what foreign policy analysts are describing as India’s growing ‘soft power’ - the country’s ability to project its values and culture around the world.

Observers say that part of the success of India cinema is that it reflects the values of countries outside India, with an emphasis on family and traditional values.

In Europe too, Bollywood stars are becoming more familiar. Such is the popularity of Indian cinema that the London tourism authority, Visit London, recently produced a map showing points in the capital that have featured in Indian films. Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai all have waxwork replicas at the city’s Madame Tussaud’s tourist attraction.

In one weekend after its 2002 release, 336,413 people in Spain went to see the film ‘Monsoon Wedding’, which was nominated for the European Film Awards and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

PriceWaterhouse Coopers, a consultancy firm, estimates that India’s media and entertainment industry is worth around €1.3 billion each year. This is expected to rise by 20% before the end of the decade.

Part of that growth is expected to come from greater sales abroad.

During his recent visit to the European Parliament, Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam was keen to promote cultural links between the EU and India.

As well as bolstering the entertainment industry, the Indian government wants to promote more co-operation between Indian and EU universities, scientific establishments and cultural bodies.

India is participating in the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system and in work on an experimental nuclear fusion reactor.

In February this year the EU and India held the first-ever gathering of EU and Indian science ministers, which also involved 500 Indian science students.

At the meeting the EU and India pledged to increase scientific co-operation in "breadth and depth".

"I think as India rises it needs this type of engagement abroad to influence how it is perceived as it continues its rise," says Philip Fiske de Gouveia, head of the Foreign Policy Centre’s public diplomacy programme. "There are people looking at this in Delhi," he adds.

"There is a logic that as more and more people watch Indian cinema, for example, they will become more amenable to Indian culture."

But, says Fiske de Gouveia, India has some way to go before it can match the soft power influence of the US.

"Even in a city like London, which obviously has long cultural ties with India, I am not sure that people are actually following Indian cinema, that this is something other than the odd breakthrough hit," he adds.

In Casablanca’s old medina, as in other places around north Africa and the Middle East, it is common to see copies of the latest Hollywood and European blockbusters among the scores of pirated DVDs. But increasingly on the photocopied covers appear the faces of Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta and other big names of Indian cinema.

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