Bollywoodization?

‘Hollywoodisation’ refers to typical plot format of American film (Klein 2004). Bollywood adopted Hollywood’s production format and successfully incorporated that with Indian traditions, developing into unique style.

Bollywood refers to Mubai-based film industry in India (Schaefer & Karan 2013). Globalisation helps to break down barriers and export of Indian films to countries around the world. In recent years, there is rise of Hindi film industry and it is now the largest film industry in the world. Some even predicted that it will surpass Hollywood in revenues in future (Mazumdar 2013, p.47).

Bollywood is said to be ‘Hollywoodized’ which can be reflected in many Indian film. An example is Bride & Prejudice produced in 2004 which is an adaption of Pride and Prejudice. The film is about a girl who was brought up in traditional Indian family, met American men, which differences arouse. After spending more time with each other, they learned their misunderstanding and fall in love. This film followed typical Hollywood formula, with beautiful actor and actress, love and comedy genre, also a happy ending.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_and_Prejudice

It is true that Bollywood movie adopted production format similar to Hollywood, but to a small extent it has been ‘Hollywoodized’ as it shows strong traditional Indian culture by presenting ‘uniquely Indian’ content (Mazumdar 2013, p.52). In Bride & Prejudice, there are several song and dance numbers, like the wedding scene at the end of the film. This is typical element that defines Bollywood. The film is set in India, showing Indian life, its landmark, village, Hindi language. It also reveals custom like wearing traditional clothing, which illustrated Indian cultural values.

Bollywood films successfully learned and absorbed from Hollywood production style, while retaining traditional unique Indian elements, producing films that attract all. This is the concept of ‘glocalization’ (Kelin 2014), the combination of the word globalization and localization.

Bollywood originally is mainly made for Indian people, so it focuses on traditional dancing and singing with humorous narratives. As it is expanding to international market, Bollywood film content is also changing. Though musical genre is still dominant, more messages are explored in the films, like the hit-film 3 idiots, which criticize the educational system.

References

Klein, Christina 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384

Schaefer, DJ & Karan, K 2013, ‘Bollywood and globalization: researching popular Hindi cinema through the lens of film flows’, in Schaefer, DJ, & Karan, K (eds), Bollywood and Globalisation: the global power of popular Hindi cinema, Routledge, USA and Canada

Mazumdar, S 2013, ‘Transnational elements in the Hong Kong and Hindi film industries: A comparative analysis’, in Schaefer, DJ, & Karan, K (eds), Bollywood and Globalisation: the global power of popular Hindi cinema, Routledge, USA and Canada