Bollywood in the City: Can the Consumption of Bollywood Cinema Serve as a Site for Intercultural Discovery and Dialogue?

Sample

Bollywood’s new “coolness” (Banker 2001) creates the space for what Clifford calls “political struggles to define the local as distinctive community” (Clifford 1994, 308)—a space distinctly evident in the New York metropolitan area. This is made possible particularly by the post-globalized Indian film industry that has reconstructed its representations to provide a “legitimate” and acceptable image of India, and Indians, for a welcome consumption and recuperation of these images by current generations of Indian Americans—in direct contrast to the image of South Asians floating in Western consciousness since 2001. At the same time, and particularly observable in the New York metropolitan area, the consumption of Bollywood music is no longer exclusive to the Indian American community. New York lounges frequently cater to Bollywood music, the “Masala Bhangra workout” is the hottest item on the fitness circuit, and Bhangra rap and Bollywood music are now synonymous with contemporary Indian music for the average listener. Another significant aspect of the Bollywoodization of the New York metropolitan area has been the immense popularity of Bollywood cinematic heartthrobs performing live to stadiums packed with diasporic and mainstream audiences. This marks a visible shift in Bollywood content from being evocative of nostalgia and desire for “home” to a form of consuming “India” by mainstream audiences.