Bollywood’s global reach extends to the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, the US, and parts of Europe, with significant popularity in countries like Russia, UAE, and China, driven by the Indian diaspora’s passion for Indian films.Dubai is a hub for Bollywood films as well as the stars who frequent the emirates often.
Beyond Borders: Bollywood’s Global Reach
Africa has significant Bollywood presence in countries like Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. South East Asia , we have the Indonesia and Afghanistan also having the Bollywood fan following.
China has a significant market in the recent years where Bollywood is getting its popularity among the younger generation. Aamir Khan has gained a lot of fan following in. China
Bollywood has a strong following in Russia, particularly after classics like “Mera Naam Joker” and “Awara”. Besides Russia, countries like Germany, Bosnia, Turkey, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand have also shown a growing interest in Bollywood films, especially among Indian diaspora communities.
Reason for Popularity of Bollywood film abroad
Bollywood films with universal themes of Love ,family, social issues and relationship on universal themes and stories have made it relatable to the audience not just within India but also globally beyond India .
Cross culture films have also sought its popularity among the masses.
Bollywood films captivate audiences with vibrant visuals, catchy music, and energetic choreography. Studios like Yash Raj have helped take Bollywood global with strategic marketing and distribution.
With the rise of streaming platforms that have made Indian films accessible to the audience abroad and even in regions
The World Loves Bollywood: A Global Phenomenon
Bollywood in particularly the Hindi Cinema enjoys a global fan following and has achieved a considerable popularity for films like 3 Idiots, Dangal, Bajrangi Bhaijaan , RRR, PK to name a few who have ranked among the highest grossing Indian films overseas. Actors Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are individually successful stars and popular abroad.
These films like the 3 Idiots , a timeless classic continues to captivate the audience abroad with a highest grossing of $ 238,000,000 in 2016. 3 Idiots released in China was the 15th Largest film market partly due to the distribution of the pirated DVDs. However, it was due to which the film became a cult hit in the country that introduced the film through the pirated DVDs. With the result, Aamir Khan gained a large fan base in China, paving its way for Dhoom 3 in 2013.
Dangal the sports biopic drama resonated with the audience and globally the grossing was at $100,000,000 in 2017.
“Bajrangi Bhaijaan” (2015) resonated globally with its emotional appeal and message of brotherhood between India and Pakistan, grossing $70 million worldwide.
Pathaan was a blockbuster and achieved the international success with the highest grossing at $1,050,30 crore which is approx. US$120 million worldwide.
The other films that did extremely well overseas and broke the official records were Lagaan and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Lagaan being a historical drama gained a lot of international acclaim . It took decades before Aamir Khan’s film Laggan in 2001 became the first Indian film to have received a nationwide appreciation and release.
Disco Dancer was very also very popular and received well by the audience for its pomp, dance and catchy music with a story line and had grossed at $ 59,000,000 and the film PK grossed at $ 53,000,000 worldwide.
Indian Cinema Goes Global: Bollywood’s International Presence
Disco Dancer (1982), starring Mithun Chakraborty, achieved massive success overseas with an estimated footfall of 100 million tickets, making it a highly successful Hindi film globally. The decline in the Russian cinemas in the post-Soviet era led to Indian films also disappeared by mid of 1990.
Bollywood has invested in high quality production quality for the music, visuals and acting making the Indian films more competitive in the global markets.
Bollywood has particularly through platforms like IIFA ( International Indian Film Academy ) and social media have adept the marketing of their films internationally.
A lot of tools for cultural diplomacy has fostered international connections and understanding.
Bollywood’s Global Appeal: A Cultural Export
Indian films have always been popular since the 1940’s and have achieved a significant commercial success. The target audience for the Indian films , Hindi films is significant. “Aan” (1952), directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Dilip Kumar and Nimmi, was subtitled in 17 languages and released in 28 countries, achieving considerable profit overseas. It was an unprecedented success in the foreign markets which included Europe , Russia and Latin America
In the early 50’s Hindi and Egyptian films generally got more popular than the Hollywood films in East Africa . But by 1960’ the region had the largest export in the overseas market for Indian films accounting to 20 to 50% of the global earnings for many of the Indian films.
From Mumbai to the World: Bollywood’s Far-Reaching Impact
Indian films were released with a thousand prints in the Soviet Union.
If we look back on the history of the commercial success overseas, the film, Dharti Ke Lal was released in 1946. Followed by the release in the Soviet Union in 1949.
Indian films thereafter expanded its reach with a considerable success having one of the largest shares overseas . However, the growing success of Indian films overseas began in 21st century.
Leave a Comment