The soft power of popular cinema – the case of India

Abstract

Among BRICS nations, India has the most developed and globalised film industry, and the Indian government as well as corporations are increasingly deploying the power of Bollywood in their international interactions. India’s soft power, arising from its cultural and civilizational influence outside its territorial boundaries, has a long history. Focusing on contemporary India’s thriving Hindi film industry, this article suggests that the globalisation of the country’s popular cinema, aided by a large diaspora, has created possibilities of promoting India’s public diplomacy. It examines the global imprint of this cinema as an instrument of soft power.

Keywords:

• soft power
• culture
• Bollywood
• diaspora
• internet
• India

Notes on contributor

Daya Kishan Thussu is professor of International Communication and Co-Director of India Media Centre at the University of Westminster in London. Author or editor of 18 books, most recently, Mapping BRICS Media (co-edited with Kaarle Nordenstreng, Routledge, 2015); he is Managing Editor of the Sage journal Global Media and Communication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.