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Industrial Identity in an Era of Reform >> 65

the same time, this emphasis on company structure and managerial logics
signals another key difference. Even as this corporate narrative emphasizes
the importance of key executives (UTV’s Ronnie Screwvala, for example) by
mentioning their vast experience in media production in Bombay and their
ties to prominent and well-established directors and stars in Bollywood,
great care is taken not to allow any one person’s identity to overshadow the
corporation’s professional outlook and approach to the business of media
production and circulation.
This positioning of the corporate and professional cultures of production
as utterly incongruent with the kinship-based workings of the Bombay film
industry informed discussions at FRAMES 2009 as well. In fact, this was the
argument that several panelists on another panel—“U.S.-India: Overcoming
Obstacles to Doing Business in the Two Largest Global Film Markets”—had
made the previous day. One panelist in particular, Anadil Hossain, a dia-
sporic South Asian entrepreneur who facilitates Bollywood productions in
the United States as well as Hollywood productions in India, framed it in
stark terms:

Bollywood has an incredible talent pool, resources, great actors and tech-
nicians. But where the whole process tends to fall apart a little is in pro-
duction. The fact is that there is no transparency, no locked budget, and
no accountability. It is open ended and loose, and no reporting back. That
is something I miss when I work with Indian companies that come there.
Over the years, I have tried to instill some of the systems . . . but one film
at a time is not enough. I hope now with the slow corporatization, with
UTV and all the studios that are coming up who are now adopting sys-
tems . . . in production, finance, distribution . . . some of that paperwork,
contracts, budget, the way deals are being made, will have an effect on the
industry here.

Hossain’s interactions with producers, directors, stars, and a range of below-
the-line professionals in Bollywood began in 2003 when she facilitated the
production of the Yash Johar-produced Kal Ho Na Ho (Tomorrow May Not
Be, dir. Nikhil Advani, 2003) in New York City. Hossain’s company, Dilly-
wood Inc., handled a range of responsibilities, including arranging accom-
modations for cast and crew members, securing permits for shooting in dif-
ferent parts of New York City, recruiting extras, and renting equipment. This
led to several other assignments for Bollywood films involving American
locations as well as a Hollywood film (Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Lim-
ited, 2007) shot in India.