Bollywood and Globalization

The field of Bollywood studies has remained predominantly critical, theoretical and historical in focus. This book brings together qualitative and quantitative approaches to tackle empirical questions focusing on the relationship between soft power, hybridity, cinematic texts, and audiences.Adopting a critical-transcultural framework that examines the complex power relations that are manifested through globalized production and consumption practices, the book approaches the study of popular Hindi cinema from three broad perspectives: transcultural production contexts, content trends, and audiences. It firstly outlines the theoretical issues relevant to the spread of popular Indian cinema and emergence of India's growing soft power. The book goes on to report on a series of quantitative studies that examine the patterns of geographical, cultural, political, infrastructural, and artistic power dynamics at work within the highest-grossing popular Hindi films over a 61-year period since independence. Finally, an additional set of studies are presented that quantitatively examine Indian and North American audience consumption practices. The book illuminates issues related to the actualization and maintenance of cinematic soft power dynamics, highlighting Bollywood's increasing integration into and subsumption by globalized practices that are fundamentally altering India's cinematic landscape and, thus, its unique soft power potential. It is of interest to academics working in Film Studies, Globalisation Studies, and International Relations.

Foreword Daya Thussu Introduction: Bollywood and Globalization: Researching Popular Hindi Cinema through the Lens of Film Flows David J. Schaefer and Kavita Karan Part 1: Transcultural Contexts and Soft Power 1. The big stick behind "soft power"? The case of Indian films in international markets Sunitha Chitrapu 2. Bollywood at Large: Who is watching Bollywood films? Anjali Gera Roy 3. Transnational Elements In Hong Kong And Hindi Film Industries: A Comparative Analysis Suruchi Mazumdar Part 2: Cinematic Content and Soft Power 4. Box Office and "Bollywood": An Analysis of Soft Power Content in Popular Hindi Cinema David J. Schaefer 5. Cinematic Soft Power and Contraflows: The Prevalence of South Asian Culture and Art in Popular Hindi Cinema David J. Schaefer, Kavita Karan, Amar Donepudi, and Namrata Bansal 6. The Impact of Globalization on Bollywood Cinema's Depictions of Violence, Sexuality, Crime, Social vice and Romance David J. Schaefer and Kavita Karan 7. The Changing Face of Indian Women in the Era of Global Bollywood Divya Anujan, David J. Schaefer, and Kavita Karan Part 3: Cinematic Soft Power and Audiences 8. Bollywood Cinema and Contemporary Audiences: Surveying Viewer Perceptions and Practices David J. Schaefer and Kavita Karan 9. Cultural connections in a globalized orld: The power of Bollywood in the United States Kavita Karan 10. Emotional Arousal and Bollywood: Assessing Cortical Activation for Violent, Sexual, and Romantic Content in Popular Hindi Cinema David J. Schaefer, Joseph Pathakamuri, Stephen Sammut, and Kavita Karan