The Dubai-Mumbai Connection

The names Mumbai and Dubai mentioned in a single breathstill conjure up a series of associations: an international grey market,Bollywood nights, controversies involving underworld finance of the Mumbai filmindustry and extortion money. It was not that long ago that the name of Dubaiwas omnipresent in Mumbai’s film world, before there emerged a concerted moveto legalise film finance and corporatise Hindi cinema. 

Now that corporatisation seems to have become the order of the day for theMumbai film industry, the name of Dubai is cropping up again, but in a verydifferent context. This time around, the links seem to be in tune to set up arather more positive connection.

It is well-known that Indian films have a regular market in West Asia, bothamong the South Asian diaspora as well as the local population. The Indianexpatriate population in West Asia is one of the largest in any part of theworld, and the presence of this diaspora has, over the years, worked to giveMumbai cinema a presence in local society. 

A professor of Middle-Eastern (as the Americans and Canadians call West Asia)studies at the University of Toronto once mentioned that Hindi films had beenquite a part of his growing up years: it used to be quite a social event whenhis family went to the movie theatre to watch a ‘Bollywood’ film, though inthose days, no one really used the term Bollywood. 

It appears that children of many upper class families in West Asia arefamiliar with the world of Hindi films, courtesy their Indian nannies, who arequite a brigade in these parts. In that sense, however, West Asia at large hasbeen no different from other parts of the world where Hindi cinema has made fora niche culture, more so in the contemporary age of a global ‘Bollywood’.Where West Asia has the potential to make a significant difference vis-à-visits already existing Bollywood link is in its latest investment in a filmculture which aspires to be both local and international, and its aspiration toevolve as a contemporary cultural hub.

The Dubai Film Festival, first organized in 2004 with atheme of ‘Bridging Cultures Meeting Minds’, best exemplifies this blend ofthe global and local in the contemporary West Asia. On the one hand, thefestival has been geared towards the nurturing of Arab cinema, on the other itaims to be a major international event at par with similar international eventsacross the world. 

This mix of the global and local has a most culturally-proximate repositoryin Bollywood/Hindi cinema. ‘Bollywood’ has now become a global brand,ironically, for its song-and-dance prototype, which was considered kitsch formany years in the past in relation to the realist cinemas of the West, but isnow increasingly being assessed in terms of its unique aesthetic.

With West Asia, especially Dubai, looking to nurture a film culture which isinternational, Mumbai can only be the next stop. Recently, the Dubai-basedInfinity Holdings signed a multi-million dollar joint venture with Yash RajFilms for the creation of an entertainment district in Dubai, which is now beingconsidered a strategic location by Bollywood corporates. 

Not only Dubai, other countries of West Asia should soon be increasinglyattractive to Bombay producers, given that West Asian governments are now doingtheir best to promote film enterprise. Jordan immediately comes to mind forbeing a country blessed with superb natural locations offering a range ofcinematographic possibilities. With the Jordanian government working to buildthe country’s film industry, Jordan could easily start competing with Europeand Australia for a share of Bollywood’s foreign locations. 

Many of Bollywood’s leading production houses moved to Australia in recentyears in search of exotic shooting locations, and in a bid to offset the costsof shooting in Europe or North America. Yash Raj Films, which popularized the‘foreign’ location in Bollywood films through its almost patent Swisslocations (Yash Chopra has a lake dedicated to him by the Swiss government forhis role in promoting Swiss tourism through his films) has increasingly begunfilming in Australia. 

Contemporary blockbusters, such as Dil Chahta Hai, Salaam Namaste, HeyyBabby and Chak De India have been shot on Australian locations. LikeAustralia, which threw up a range of new hot spots for Hindi film producers, whoused be somewhat fixated on Switzerland and Europe, West Asia with its newinitiatives in the field of film enterprise, seems to be destined to be the nextnew destination for Bollywood. 

The added advantage for Hindi film industry vis-à-vis Dubai or Jordan wouldbe the relatively low cost of local crew and
production services in relation to Europe or Australia, as also a degree ofcultural affinity with the region. With Bollywood budgets sky-rocketing inrecent years in terms of star prices, technological innovation and marketing,the industry would most certainly find it advantageous to avail frominternational linkages closer to home with greater potential forcost-effectiveness.

For Dubai or Jordan, a model could be Malasia’s new film city, set up with thespecific purpose of providing sophisticated production and post-productionfacilities to Indian producers, for whom Malaysia has been a favorite shootinglocation in the recent past. This includes Hindi film producers, as well as theTamil and Telegu language industries of the South.

With its cultural proximity to large parts of South Asia, West Asia figures as aleading contender in Bollywood’s growing international nexus. Both regions area part of that configuration which may be termed the "global south", andMumbai and Dubai together have a potential to crystallise industrial structuresthat may well prove to be a viable counterpart to Hollywood.

India is one of the few countries in the world where Hollywood has beenunable to make a significant incursion vis-à-vis the dominant Hindi andregional cinemas. On the other hand, Bollywood of recent years has heightenedits potential to reach global audiences on the basis of increasinglysophisticated distribution and marketing systems. This combination of‘local’ culture and global potential is what, at this point, aligns Mumbaiwith Dubai and West Asia in general.