From “ghetto” to mainstream: Bollywood in South Africa

ABSTRACT

This essay explores two aspects of the Bollywood “phenomenon” as it has played out, in the past decade, in South Africa — a part of the Indian diaspora where the popularity of Hindi-language Indian cinema has an established history. Firstly, the article maps the expansion of Bollywood beyond the Indian diasporic audience to so-called “crossover” audiences, a phenomenon I have labelled the “mainstreaming” of Bollywood in South Africa. Secondly, it examines developments in relation to the expansion of Bollywood — South African film industry co-operation, including Bollywood's use of South Africa for location shooting.