Here in the United States we have enormous amounts of coverage on the latest tv shows and movies and can constantly be updated by the latest gossip of celebrities and their latest move. We are so focused on our own entertainment industry that we forget what is happening with the world's entertainment. Even more surprising is that India's entertainment is quickly growing and yet we have very little coverage on it. This industry is called Bollywood, and it is becoming a giant in the entertainment industry. How Bollywood is taking over the global entertainment industry
Bollywood has a very simple business model. Do as the Americans do. Ever since it's first films, it has constantly mimicked how the American film industry raised the bar for the quality and quantity of their movies. The bigger the bang and the cooler the shots, brought in more money and saw better ratings for the movie. This gave the audience always wanting more and gave the production companies always try to outdo their competitor.
It takes a lot of money to finance these big budget movies though and it takes a lot of coordination between several different organizations to ensure a movie is financed. When Bollywood first started getting popular, the government put a ban on banks being able to loan out money. This allowed for private distributors and big movie studios to capitalize on Bollywood's success. However the government recently lifted the ban allowing for smaller studios to increase their budget for movies. This allows for a boost in higher quality movies being put out in the market, but there are some consequences to the raise of this ban as well. Illegitimate sources of money were now allowed to control their movies they financed which allowed for different terrorist groups to promote their organization.
American influences on the Indian entertainment industry.
The name Bollywood is very easily recognized to be derived from Hollywood, American's giant movie industry. However, the name isn't the only influence America has had on Bollywood. Throughout the 1920s and 50s, American musicals were the hit, however Indian filmmakers took a different spin on it. As Hollywood focused on having their musicals in their own little world, Bollywood used musicals to enhance their movies in their natural setting to perserve their cultural and heritage. This allowed for Bollywood to start having their own trends that were popular in the western cultural.
Although Bollywood has had success in it's country, it has yet to transcend to American soil. This is evident because one of the most popular movies in 2011 was called "Singham" yet it didn't make an news stories in America papers. This just shows how closed off American is to global industries that will eventually influence our cultural.
As an Indian I am honestly proud of the direction Bollywood is heading. Not too long ago everyone dismissed Bollywood as ridiculous movies with songs peppered in for no reason. Recently movies like Don 2 have changed the standard for what Bollywood id capable of making. This is partly because movie revenues are reaching all time highs these recent years allowing for movies with much higher budgets to be produced. Another thing worth mentioning is that beside popular belief, Slum dog Millionaire is in fact a Hollywood movie. This is an important distinction worth making simply because not many people understand what Bollywood is. I really hope this changes over the next five years because the movies made by Bollywood these days are seriously worth catching.
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