The cultural industries of India: an introduction

Introduction

This special issue of Cultural Trends is dedicated to the Indian cultural and creative industries. By covering specific aspects of the cultural and creative sectors in India– from film festivals to music and performing arts, from cinema to tourism, including a policy review on innovation in the creative industries – the articles included in this special issue offer a comprehensive overview of the relationship between the cultural and creative industries and the wider economic, social, cultural and political processes taking place within India and its diaspora.

Following the definition provided by the UNESCO, we understand the cultural and creative industries as those “sectors of organized activity that have as their main objective the production or reproduction, the promotion, distribution, or commercialization of goods, services and activities of content derived from cultural, artistic or heritage origins” (Raufast et al., 2015, p. 11). This is a definition particularly useful in the context of India, as it acknowledges the cultural value of the creative industries while emphasising their economic aspect, especially considering that the very commercialisation of cultural products in India is often entangled in a complex web of formal and informal practices which are creative in themselves. As the articles in this special issue show, this is true for example in the case of the transnational circulation of music, the performing arts as well as the organisation and promotion of tourist packages or tourism trails abroad. Cultural and creative industries represent important drivers of economic development, cultural activism (Dasgupta & Mahn, 2023) and their potential for economic growth was recently reiterated in a report published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which observes that they “provide 6.2 per cent of all employment, generating nearly 50 million jobs worldwide” (UNCTAD, 2022, p. 1). Research in the field also tends to highlight the creative sector’s potential for the promotion of “cultural diversity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability” (UNCTAD 2022 , p. xix; see also Shaban et al., 2022, pp. 4–6), urban regeneration (Florida, 2002), and social and cultural development more generally.

In the context of South Asia, Malik and Dudrah (2016, p. 133) observe that cultural and creative industries are valued especially for their potential to “stimulate cultural and social development; and provide an economic tool for growth and development based on the potential to create employment, generate income, earn export revenues and alleviate poverty”. India also has a large informal economy which has grown around handicraft and textile production. Handicrafts is in fact the second largest employer after agriculture in India. The India Brand Equity Foundation claims that India is home to at least 7 million artisans with up to 200 million working in informal sectors deriving some sort of income from handicraft production. The handicrafts industry is characterised by a sizable number of micro, small, and medium-sized businesses and occupies the space between household and commercial activity. While some manufacturing takes place in structures akin to cottage industries, state-level assistance has also aided in the establishment of cooperatives, government-backed businesses, and non-governmental organisations that are active in the area of labour negotiation and pastoral care (Hitchen et al., 2023). In India, the handicrafts and textiles industry is significant from an economic, political, and social standpoint since it helps many underprivileged communities by generating revenue by utilising shared cultural traditions and history (Begum et al., 2018).

In the specific case of India, emphasis is often placed on the potential of its entertainment industry, as recent analysis predicts the country to become “the fastest growing media and entertainment market globally, in terms of consumer and advertising revenue” (PwC, 2021). India is the largest producer of films in the world, with a well-established (formal and informal) market outside the subcontinent, and its soft-power potential has been widely discussed by several scholars in the past two decades (see Athique 2012; Thussu, 2016).

Liberalism: challenges and opportunities

A significant moment for the creative sector was the liberalisation of the Indian economy which began in 1991. As the protectionist economic approach that had characterised the Indian state since independence gave way to liberalisation, the Indian government opened the door to foreign investments in traditional industries and manufacture services, but also in cultural production, especially in the film and media industries. When the government granted “industry status” to its own film production, it set in motion an unprecedented expansion of the wider cultural and media sector:

In 1998, the Indian government finally granted ‘industry status’ to its domestic film trade. Easing restrictions on foreign collaboration under the new regime, the Indian government encouraged the Indian film industry to look outward and recruit international capital via foreign media investment. Film and television industries were relieved of export-related income tax—an exemption which was extended to individuals and partnerships in the media trade in 2000. (Govil, 2006, p. 79)

The television sector, which expanded as a consequence of the new economic policies of the 1990s, is also quite significant, as it represents the third largest in the world (Mehta, 2015) while other important segments of the entertainment industry include a major print publishing and newspaper sector and the radio (Chadha, 2017). The liberalisation of the Indian economy did not only trigger the growth of the film and television industries, but it also considerably expanded readership for newspapers in several languages, including English (Gupta 2005 , p. 292). The development of the entertainment and information industries especially catered to the growing Indian middle class, which still represents “a potentially huge and lucrative market for multinational cultural industries conglomerates” (Hesmondalgh 2007, p. 128; see also Mankekar, 1999, pp. 48–49), but it also attracts the Indian diaspora around the world. This thriving cultural and creative sector is often cited as the main reason behind the “growing profile of India on the global scene” (Thussu, 2012, p. 436), however, its impact in terms of socio-economic development is hard to measure because of the informal character of much work in the creative industries (Shaban et al., 2022, pp. 14–15) and the substantial lack of reliable statistics.

Globalisation in India during this period and the political and economic changes it brought about had profound changes on the discursive formation of a new India (Begum et al., 2018). Rupal Oza (2006) argued that while the changes were dynamic this wasn’t a fundamental shift from a socialist growth model to capitalism, rather it was a more long-term process. Advertisements, newsprint, magazines, and television programmes supported the consuming lifestyle by presenting views representative of the new contemporary middle classes (Rodrigues & Ranganathan, 2015). The construction of the new liberal India also saw the emergence of the new liberal Indian woman and the consolidation of middle-class identity.

But the study of cultural and creative industries in India is important not only for their potential for economic growth and its knock-on effect on social and cultural development, but also because their analysis reveal the ways in which cultural production shapes politics and identities, income generation and urban renewal (Hitchen et al., 2023). A focus on the local contexts of production and reception thus requires us to take into consideration also questions of structural inequalities within the sector at the local level, and to account for asymmetries in economic power and the possibility to circulate and access symbolic content within and beyond the boundaries of the Indian nation, which need to be discussed in the analysis of cultural and creative industries. In this respect, research into cultural and creative industries in India needs to analyse the structural organisation of these industries with a specific focus on the ways in which they promote or hinder social development, tackle inequalities and promote social inclusion. The problem of gender in/equality in the cultural industries for example is certainly not new, and neither is the question of the structural precarity of creative labour (Kong, 2014). An encompassing analysis of the creative and cultural industries should also consider the ways in which the production and the reception of global cultural products are embedded in the social, cultural and political contexts within which they emerge – what Edward Said, in the context of production of literary texts, referred to as “wordliness” of the text (1993). This is all the more important if we consider that the global reach of the Indian entertainment industry, through transnational means of communication which connect the Indian diaspora around the world, also impacts on dynamics of identity and cultural politics in the diasporic space.

Soft power, neoliberalism and the nation

Indian cinema, television, music and clothing cultures play an especially important role in creating a vision of the Indian nation (Clini et al., 2020; Dasgupta, 2017; Rajadhyaksha, 2003). Building on the work of Benedict Anderson (1983) and Ernest Gellner (1983) on the origins and nature of nation and nationalism we argue that rather than constitutional values and laws it is the cultural industries and popular culture that shapes our views about rights, freedom and belonging (or non-belonging). With massive development and social change instigated through the various five-year plans, cultural productions from cinema to theatre have become popular mediums for improving public awareness on issues of public health, politics and science and thus participating in significant nation building activities (Dasgupta & Datta, 2019; Datta et al., 2015). Media has always provided this platform for dialogue between the government and people.

Recent events show that several developing and middle-income countries have used soft power to challenge the hegemon's power monopoly. Indian governments of different ruling parties have all espoused the values of soft power. From the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to the previous Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh have all acknowledged the role of culture in India’s diplomacy. Shashi Tharoor, the Indian politician, author and also a former UN diplomat has championed the role of culture in soft power over the years:

Today’s India truly enjoys soft power, and that may well be the most valuable way in which it can offer leadership to the twenty-first century-world. (Tharoor, 2012, p. 312)

According to Thussu (2013), cinema but more broadly “culture” is one of India's most effective soft power brands. He contends that the Bollywood franchise has grown to symbolise an innovative and self-assured India, having been co-opted by the country's business and political elite and revered by those who live outside the country.

India’s Cultural Industries play a pivotal role in the framing of the nation. The post liberalisation phase from 1991 onwards marks the transition “from an era of statist monopoly … to an era of popular entertainment, cosmopolitan internationalism” (Athique, 2012, p. 69). According to Athique, this became “a time for individualism to flourish and for the expression of a list of desires that were long suppressed in the name of national integration, including desires for regional expressions … unruly politics” (Athique, 2012, p. 69). These issues were reflected through multiple cultural sectors- television, fashion and cinema being the primary ones. The multi-format nature of television broadcasting as well as the content of tele-serials, films and chat shows also played up to the consumerist aspirations of middle-class India by production houses such as UTV, Zee Entertainment and Balaji Telefilms, to name a few (Gokulsing, 2003; Munshi, 2020). This has continued with the tremendous growth of national OTP (Over the top) platforms such as Alt Balaji, Hotstar, Hoichoi as well as Indian content being produced through Amazon Prime studios and Netflix India (Dasgupta et al., forthcoming).

Approaches: why this special issue

The articles included in this special issue are mainly concerned with the different and varied social processes of cultural production found in cinema, tourism, festivals, music, performance, and music. The articles variously deal with factors such as politics, community making, economy and the new dynamics of this industry and taken together they aim to offer an encompassing view of the different aspects of the cultural and creative industries in India today.

Dasgupta and Bakshi’s article opens this special issue where they introduce the concept of the “queer creative city”. Through a study of two queer film festivals in Kolkata they argue how queer film festivals can become critical sites to interrogate the dynamics of the public sphere in contemporary India. They discuss the precarious cultural labour put in by festival workers- curators, designers and film makers in this production of queer culture and emergence of creative sites of resistance and community making.

Clini and Valančiūnas turn their attention to Indian cinema to examine the relationship between the growing popularity of “poverty tourism” and the Indian film industry. Through an analysis of aesthetic and narrative devices used by Indian films to portray life in the Indian slum, and the contextual examination of Bollywood-induced tourism, they critique the role of India’s cultural industries in the promotion of the perception of the slum as the symbol of authentic India, repackaged for the consumption of tourists in the global marketplace.

Basu examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance and art sector. Using two case studies from dance and theatre she examines social justice initiatives within these sectors arguing that the breadth and scope of these initiatives allow us to understand how the pandemic has necessitated them and the challenges faced in sustaining themselves as a creative community. A focus of this article is on creative labour where Basu brings together her own self reflexive position as a dancer alongside the experiences of other performers. She contends that the ethics and praxis of care is crucial for the sustainable future of India’s creative economy.

Hornabrook’s article explore “feedback loops” that musically and socially constitute the current Tamil transnational music scene. This dynamic scene comprises of musical, social, economic and political connections between South India, Sri Lanka and their diasporas. Through an exploration of these new forms of musical productions she argues that they are entangled in complex politics of belonging and power hierarchies.

Jordan, Hitchen and Dasgupta's article reports on an ongoing research study funded by UKRI to map India’s creative industries. Using an ecosystem framework, they focus on strategy/policy; tangible and intangible infrastructure; funding and investment to understand the main drivers and barriers across the nine sub-sector value chains. They report on the importance of the cultural industries in economic terms but also raise key questions around its informal nature and limitation of official data. Moving on to the diaspora, this special issue also includes a conversation between Roaa Ali and Esme Ward, the director of Manchester Museum, who have recently opened a new South Asian Gallery. The conversation explores issues of decolonisation, colonial legacies and ethnic inequalities in the museum sector.

Whilst some aspects of the cultural industries are missing in this special issue- fashion, comics and television to name a few; the geographic spread of the articles and the diversity of sectors being represented will encourage further thinking and suggesting new ways of interrogating India’s cultural industries.

Acknowledgements

The special issue editors would like to thank the peer reviewers who worked extremely hard providing timely comments to the authors. We would also like to thank the journal editors Hye-Kyung Lee and Eleonora Belfiore for guiding us through the process and supporting this special issue.