Taal grossed US 1.08 million within the first ten days of its release in the US alone.

Bollywoodthe New Hollywood?

Bollywoods Expanded Audience

Bollywood, Indias movie industry situated in Bombay (now known as Mumbai), is named for its similarity to the Hollywood film industry. Bollywood makes well over a thousand movies a year and contributes to more than a fourth of the worlds films.
Bollywood is the worlds largest film industry, watched by millions of people both within and outside of India. It has had an international audience for a long time in places such as Russia, Africa, and surrounding Aisan countries. Bollywoods fame and credibility has been slow to develop. Its introduction probably began with Pather Panchali in 1955 at Cannes. Recognition increased with movies like Mother India and then 30 years laterSalaam Bombay, which were nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. However, recently there has been an increased interest in this movie industry as more and more people see the emergence of Bollywood in the international scale through events such as the screening of Devdas at the Cannes festival and famous Bollywood actress Aishwariya Rai being a judge at the Cannes Film Festival. Movies like Taal have made the top ten and twenty list in the US and the UK. Recently Lagaan was nominated for an Academy Award and is readily available in the local Blockbuster store. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai grossed over a 6 million dollars in three months.

Timeline of International Interaction

1914- Raja Harishchandra, Mohini Bhasmasur and Satyavan Savitri shown in London. 1916- Universal Pictures set up Hollywood's first Indian Agency. 1936- Amar Jyoti is shown in Venice. 1951- 9 Indian film artists were invited to visit Moscow. 1952- another group visited the US and were greeted by President Truman,first Indian international film festival 1956- second Indian film festival in Soviet Union 1973- FFC becomes channeling agency for import and distribution of raw stock. The Government imposes 250% import duty on raw film. 1980- FFC and Indian Motion Picture Export Corporation merge to form the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). 1982- Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Elipattahyam wins prestigious British Film Institute Award. 1983- Mrinal Sen's Kharij wins special Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Bhanu Athaiya becomes the first Indian to win an Oscar for costumes designed for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982). Panorama of Indian Cinema at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. 1985- Indian Cinema Season at Pesaro Film Festival, Italy. 1995- CNN announces a news channel with Doordarshan. 1998- The Government declares the Film Industry as a legitimate Industry qualifying it for Institutional Finance. Shekar Kapur makes a major breakthrough in the West with Elizabeth. Both Dil Se and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai enter the UK top 10. 1999- Elizabeth goes on to win several Oscar nominations including one for Best film. Shekar Kapur however misses the Best Director nomination. Manoj Night Shyamalan of Indian origin breaks through Hollywood in a major way following the success of The Sixth Sense. The first fully insured Indian film Taal enters the US top 20. Santosh Sivam's Terrorist has a successful run at the box office besides being screened at various film festivals around the world. Amitabh Bachchan declared the superstar of the millennium ahead of such greats as Charlie Chaplin and Sir Laurence Olivier. 2000- Terrorist has a release in the USA. The Sixth Sense receives Oscar nominations in the Best Film, Director and Original Screenplay among other categories but wins none. IIFA, the Indian International Film Awards launched.
Sources: Indian Film and http://www.upperstall.com/hist1966.html

4. Tailoring of Stories- In addition, producers and directors are tailoring their stories more to the western audience, although it is indicated that the more authentic the movie, the more westerners enjoy it. 5. South Asian diaspora- NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) previously migrating to countries such as Fiji and Africa, have now increased migration to the western world. They often encounter a nostalgic connection to their homeland and try to connect with Indian through various mediums- food, movies, religion, etc. South Asian diasporas are considered a distribution territory by Bollywood distributors due to the large number of movie they import. With increased population and import of movies, comes greater exposure to Bollywood which generates interest in non-Indian friends or associates. this world is getting smaller, and [people] want to see what other cultures are like. I have a sense that world cinema is much more important to people now. Tower VP John Thrasher qtd. in Hearing Bollywoods calling, Eros finds a U.S. market for Indian films

THEN
Strangely enough India imports maximum number of films from countries like U.S.A. and U.K., which hardly import Indian films at all qtd in Indian Film (1961) Foreign Earnings (1954-1961)
1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 9,713,000 11,139,000 12,922,000 12,817,000 11,309,000 15,379,000 17,589,000 16,331,000

Immigration of Indians Into US Cities

Bollywoods Global Audience
Metropolitan statistical area1/ All countries Total New York, NY Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA 915,900 133,168 64,285 39,989 21,387 18,171 44,859 3,934 1,241 3,596 1,374 394 India

Source:Indian Film

NOW
Exports earned $100 million last year, a tenfold increase since 1990. This years earnings are estimated at $250 million. Indian exports will expand by at least 50 percent each year, earning around $3 billion by 2006. - Dont Call It Bollywood
1996-1997 Feature Film Export SWITZERLAND MAURITIOUS AUSTRALIA INDONESIA CANADA SINGAPORE , 831.02, 8% USA, 1,003.49, 10% MALAYSIA , 1,190.97, 12% U K , 1,939.81, 19% U ARAB EMTS , 2,531.99, 24%

Indian films are seen in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and may other Afro-Asian countries. Movie-goers often seen the same movie more than once and despite not knowing the language, can sing the songs of their favorite movies. Hindi film fans in Eastern Europe, Fiji and the Philippines watch Indian programming via Soney Entertainment to catch the latest Bollywood news and see the stars in their favorite movies. Israeli movie theatres was still showing Dil To Pagal Hai to packed houses two years after its release.

Chicago, IL Houston, TX San Francisco, CA

1996
Metropolitan statistical area Total New York, NY Los Angeles - Long Beach, CA Chicago, IL Houston, TX San Francisco, CA
1

Total 849,807 85,867 70,644 32,300 17,429 16,143

India 42,046 2,409 1,295 2,945 1,266 541

In Afghanistan, after the fall of the Taliban, one of the first acts of celebration noticed was the sight of people queuing up outside cinema halls to see Bombay films. The Idea of India
In almost all the Islamic countries, including those whose ruling regimes have imposed very oppressive forms of religious fundamentalism that mandate keeping women veiled and in seclusion, people are addicted to Bollywood films where skimpily dressed heroines dance in parks, in nightclubs, and in the streets.- The idea of India

2000
Metropolitan statistical area1/

2002
All countries India

1998-1999 Feature Film Export

AUSTRALIA SRI LANKA HONG KONG CANADA SINGAPOR E MAURITIOU S , 978.33, 7% MALAYSIA , 1,663.18, 11% USA, 2,168.26, 15% UK, 3,374.63, 23%

Total New York, NY Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Chicago, IL Houston, TX San Francisco, CA

1,063,732 91,275 108,613 43,810 28,225 16,829

71,105 3,307 1,953 4,756 1,446 1,143

Why is Bollywood globalizing?

U ARAB EMTS , 2,281.35, 16%

2000-2001 Feature Film Export SWITZERLA ND AUSTRALIA MAURITIOU S CANADA SINGAPORE , 889.63, 5% MALAYSIA , 1,242.51, 7% U ARAB EMTS , 2,427.95, 14% UK, 5,434.18, 31% KENYA

USA, 3,381.35, 20%

Source of Data:http://commerce.nic.in/eidb/default.asp

1. Technology advances- Digital media has improved prints of Indian movies. They are much more appealing because they lack the grainy scenes of past movies, as well as frequent advertisements that used to crowd the top and bottom of the screen as well as break into flow of the movie. 2. Breakdown of Language Barriers- Subtitles now allow more people to watch Indian movies without knowledge of the language, making Bollywood all the more accessible. 3. Cultural Differences- The main attraction in these countries is the mix of modernity and tradition in Indian movies. People in countries in Africa and surrounding Asian countries do not easily identify with American culture. Topics such as divorce are not as common to their lives as those in America. In addition, people from other countries are sometimes anti-Americanization and as a result choose Bollywood over Hollywood. The Indian masala film is closer to the emotional grammar of the Asians and Africans than the Hollywood box office bonanzas.- The Hindu: Bollywood films make waves around the world

Due to increasing transnational migration and circulation of cultural commodities, Indian media, especially Bollywood, has had an increasing presence in South Asian diasporas in the past decade. Beyond Bollywood Increased immigration increases the availability of Bollywood movies and therefore increases exposure to them. Areas such as cities are more likely places for such exposure and acceptance to occur. Therefore, there is a positive correlation between immigration into cities and the spread of Bollywood. In the tables on the side, you can tell that Indian immigration in the US has increased dramatically over the last two years (generally). In the major metropolitan areas of America listed, the immigration has increased significantly. From this you can infer a wider exposure to Indian culture and thereby Bollywood movies, has occurred as a result.