By Erick Wamanji
When respected Hollywood director Steven Spielberg accepted a deal to spruce up Bollywood, excitement was in the air. Rightly so.
Many saw it as a timely curry to the Bollywood production, which is characterised by sari-clad Indian women in emotional songs and well-choreographed dance.
Spielberg entered into a highly publicised deal with Anil Ambani, he of Reliance ADA, a Mumbai-based firm, and one of the biggest producers of Bollywood films.
The Asian film mogul intends to inject some $500m (Sh40 billion) into Dream Works SKG, a production firm associated with Spielberg.
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After this, Bollywood as we know it, may never be the same and so would the conservative Indian culture.
The film industry for a heavily conservative audience has already started to develop Hollywood traces. This has triggered interesting debate in the Asian subcontinent, with as heavy opposition as support.
Taboo subjects
Homosexuality and lesbianism, initially taboo subjects in the East, are being explored.
Recently, Dostana broke with tradition and ventured into uncharted waters. Dostana (Hindi for friendship) features two men who pretend to be gay in a bid to be allowed residence in an apartment. Such is a brave unprecedented move. Homosexuality is outlawed in India.
Those who understand media and society consider the East-West newfound love to be a pileup to a turning point.
"Film is powerful and very influential. It has a subliminal effect on culture and ideologies. Thus the social cohesion, a sense of brotherhood, cultural and religious values as India is known for, will crumble. The younger generation will be most affected in these changing fortunes. They are always quick to embrace change," explains David Oyster, a media critic and sociologist.
Consumerism
Oyster says as Hollywood slithers into Bollywood, we expect "a strong American culture to develop in the East." This ranges from eating habits, dating, politics, education, dressing and more importantly, consumerism.
That film is a powerful instrument of cultural transformation cannot be overemphasised. It is happening even in Nairobi, where young people ape the lifestyles of their film idols. To them, if it is in the reel, it must be real too.
But whether India is ripe for this revolution, time will tell. Nevertheless, the Hollywood-Bollywood affair seems timely or even inevitable considering that India is a force to reckon with in the global geopolitics and commerce. The dominant global culture happens to be America’s. India boasts an enviable market of about one billion people, while Bollywood manages 800 films a year.
By 2012, PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimates the Indian entertainment industry to hit $36 billion (Sh2.8 trillion). Bollywood explores romance with the local culture. It is characterised by multiple plotlines, prolonged plot and bursts into song and dance.
This is a complete contrast of the hard summer-type blockbuster rolling from Hollywood. But Bollywood, a fusion of Bombay and Hollywood, generally values and endorses family values, encourages conformity and stability.
Spielberg, who is said to have had a frosty relationship at Paramount Pictures, is the man set to transform the Orient. He comes with Hollywood’s love for the liberal and individualism, terror, war and action. Importantly is a stab on tradition, because the western-type cultural anomies that would make the East shy would most likely be unavoidable.
Advanced technology
There is no comparison between Hollywood and its imitation in the East. With sleek movies, as a result of training and state-of-the-art production technology, it is said Hollywood is more ‘real’, and way ahead. Others who have an eye for the East include Walt Disney, which has some partnership with India’s Yash Raj Films. Disney is also said to have acquired a children’s Hindi-language television channel. Others are NBC, Fox Stars Studios, Viacom, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and Rupert Murdoch’s Twentieth Century Fox.
However, when Sony Pictures Entertainment made a debut with Saawariya, it did not make the waves.
