ABSTRACT
Bollywood has come a long way as the largest film producer in the world. It has withstood the impact of global forces, negotiated the decline of traditional values, and served as a beacon in the country’s search for a post-colonial national identity. The industry has become highly organized, attracting money and interest from the West. It has developed an overtly international image in response to competition from foreign satellite channels and Hollywood films, economic liberalization, and increased overseas distribution of Hindi films (Pillania 2008). With audiences becoming geographically dispersed, Hindi film producers have catered to increasingly broad tastes in order to attract people directly exposed to Western lifestyles. Datta (2000) argued that globalization threatens to erode Bollywood’s hegemonic hold over its own domestic image-making. Additionally, other commentators have noted that the portrayal of women characters has become more complex in response to the interplay of local and global forces in popular Hindi films (Gangoli 2005; Gokulsing and Dissanayake 2004; Govindan and Dutta 2008).
