Page 61 - From Bombay to Bollywoord The Making of a Global Media Industri

48 << Media Industries and the State in an Era of Reform

had been made in terms of the media and entertainment industries hav-
ing become a vital part of the Indian economy. For instance, every report
produced by consultancy firms such as KPMG included tables and charts
detailing how, given the right economic and regulatory policies, the “Indian
M&E industry” (media and entertainment) would match, if not outperform,
the overall growth of the Indian economy. But the usefulness of the media
and entertainment industries was articulated in more than just this narrow
economic sense.
Consider the way in which Bollywood was deployed as part of an “India
Everywhere” campaign at the 2006 World Economic Forum in Davos, Swit-
zerland. Organized under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII), the campaign was designed by the India Brand Equity Foundation, a
public-private partnership between the Ministry of Commerce and the CII
with the mandate of “building positive economic perceptions of India glob-
75
ally.” While billboards and advertisements declaring India to be the “fastest
growing free market democracy in the world,” gifts for attendees (including
an mp3 player loaded with Indian popular and classical music), and lavish
dinners cooked by top Indian chefs from London attracted attention, it was
the Bollywood-themed parties that news media focused on the most. For
instance, Aroon Purie, the editor of India Today, declared in a cover story
that Bollywood had redefined India’s image in Davos:

Picture this. The most happening nightspot in Davos called the Cabana
Bar, packed with Europeans dancing to the thumping beats of Kajra Re
played by DJ Aqueel, drinking Kingfisher beer and wolfing down chicken
tikkas. The crowd, mostly tourists and people working at the annual
World Economic Forum, were enjoying the taste of modern India, danc-
ing till the wee hours of the morning . . . the next night was more of the
same, with Shiamak Davar and his modern dance troupe along with DJ
Aqueel. This was the face of contemporary India that was being show-
cased to the high and mighty at the famed ski resort at the WEF’s annual
jamboree in Davos. 76

Purie and other journalists who reported on the annual meeting of the
WEF interpreted these Bollywood-themed soirees as a timely refashioning
of India’s image on the world stage. This performative dimension of Bol-
lywood’s usefulness as a cultural resource is crucial to take into account.
As George Yudice points out, “a performative understanding of the expedi-
ency of culture,” one that goes beyond the dictionary meaning of expedi-
ency as that which is “merely politic,” allows us to focus attention on the