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Indian film industry (Bollywood) – Perspectives and outlook

The Indian film industry or Bollywood as the Hindi movie making machinery is popularly know, has been an interesting case study – not just for movie fans but also for the business-world. It has managed to transition across cultures and countries and reach almost every part of the world with very little formal (if any) marketing. Tejaswini Ganti, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at New York University, is an expert on the topic.

In this interview, Tejaswini shares insights about the Hindi film industry in India and why it is unique. She also has a few suggestions on how Bollywood can tackle some of the challenges it faces today. If you are interested in the business, commercial and operational aspects of the Indian film industry, this is a must read.


Hindi Film Industry – Interview with Tejaswini Ganti (New York University)

Indian film industryMBA Crystal Ball: Tell us a little about yourself and your interest in the Indian film industry.

Tejaswini: I’m a cultural anthropologist who has been conducting ethnographic research about the Hindi film industry since 1996. I lived in Bombay for a year in 1996 while conducting research for my PhD dissertation and then I did subsequent fieldwork in 2000, 2005, 2006. I have also observed Hindi film shoots in the U.S over the last decade. In anthropology our main research method is what we call “participant observation,” which means that we derive our information about a particular community, society, or group, from immersing ourselves in that particular social world and observing and interacting with people within it. Thus, for my research I spent a lot of time on film sets, filmmakers’ offices, editing studios, dubbing studios, outdoor shoots, and other sites of production; I also worked as an assistant on two different films. I carried out formal, sit-down, taped interviews with about a 100 people in the industry over the last many years, but the daily conversations and interactions that I had with industry members play a central role in my analysis of the film industry.

I teach at New York University in the Department of Anthropology and its Program in Culture & Media; some of the courses I teach include the Anthropology of Media; the Anthropology of South Asia; and Visual Anthropology [among others].

From the time I was a young child – probably about 3 or 4 – I have been an avid viewer of Hindi films; I’ve grown up with them both in my early years in India and then my subsequent childhood and adolescence in the U.S. Hindi cinema has always been a very important feature of my entertainment/leisure/social life, and I’m fortunate that I was able to turn a personal passion into a professional pursuit. That credit goes to my advisors in graduate school who encouraged me to think about pursuing research about Hindi filmmaking for my dissertation project. In the early 1990s, there was a growing interest within anthropology about media and popular culture, so I was in the right place at the right time.

MBA Crystal Ball: What makes the Indian film industry (Bollywood) unique?

Tejaswini: First of all, even though filmmakers, the government, and the media keep pronouncing it as such there is no such thing as the “Indian film industry” – in terms of nationally integrated structures of financing, production, distribution, and exhibition, even if there is some overlap and circulation of personnel between the six main film industries in India. There are many film industries in India of which the Bombay-based Hindi film industry, now better known as “Bollywood,” is the most well-known globally; however, Hindi films comprise about 20% of the total number of films produced in India, with an equal number [and sometimes more] of films being made in Telugu and Tamil every year. When all of the films made in all of the languages – about 20 or so – are tallied up, that is what makes India the largest feature film producing country in the world; Bollywood doesn’t make 800-1000 films a year, it makes approximately 200 or so a year.

Now to answer the question: I think what is quite remarkable is how despite years of hostile or indifferent government policies, high rates of taxation, complete disinterest by much of the organized sector, scarcity of capital, and a very decentralized structure, the Hindi film industry managed to survive and continue to make films that were successful, touched people’s hearts, and were seen by millions of people all over the world. The example of the Hindi film industry counters all of those theories trotted about by neoliberal economists and Republican politicians in the U.S. about how excessive taxation and regulation kills entrepreneurship – it definitely did not do that for the Hindi film industry! Filmmakers complained and continue to complain about the Indian government’s economic policies that affect them negatively, but it didn’t stop them from making their films.

The second feature that I also find unique is that Hindi films have circulated all across the world since the 1950s – Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Israel, Tanzania, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Poland, Indonesia, Soviet Union, Peru, China, and many more countries without any significant diasporic community – without any marketing effort on the part of their producers. These films circulated far and wide and cultivated loyal audiences and the producers sitting in Bombay had no idea. It’s a hobby of mine to collect stories/anecdotes about where Hindi films have turned up – the most interesting example was when a student in an anthropology class at Barnard College where I was giving a guest lecture mentioned he had seen a Hindi film on video in a Yanomami village in the Amazon! In that sense, these films have managed to reach all sorts of unexpected and unanticipated audiences on their own strength with zero promotion or marketing. I often found myself telling filmmakers in Bombay stories about where all their films had reached and they were quite surprised!

MBA Crystal Ball: From a business perspective, what are the similarities and differences compared to Hollywood?

Tejaswini: They are both similar in that they are both large, commercially oriented, profit-seeking, globally circulating mainstream entertainment industries. However, that’s where their similarity pretty much ends. In contrast to Hollywood, the Hindi film industry is highly decentralized, has been financed primarily by entrepreneurial capital, organized along social and kin networks, and until the early 2000s was governed by oral rather than written contracts. The Hindi film industry’s structures of finance and distribution, sites of power, organization of labor, and overall work culture are quite distinct from Hollywood. It has been and continues to be an industry of free-lancers who come together for a particular film project.

Until the advent of what is referred to as ‘corporatization,’ which really started to take shape in some sort of serious manner about 5 years ago, there was no integration between production, distribution, or exhibition, although that is beginning to change now. Finally, a very important difference between the two industries is that Hollywood has always had the support of the US government, since the early 20th century, to help its goals of expansion, unlike the Hindi industry, which first took shape under a colonial power. The British were trying to figure out how to promote their own films in India and had no interest in fostering Indian filmmaking; after Independence, the Indian government treated films akin to a vice in terms of its censorship and taxation policies.

MBA Crystal Ball: How has the industry evolved over time?

Tejaswini: Wow, that’s a huge question — my entire book is about that actually!

MBA Crystal Ball: Gazing into your crystal ball, what key developments do you see in the next few years?

Tejaswini: Actually when it comes to media generally, and the Hindi film industry specifically, it is very hard to predict trends. The sort of changes that have taken place in the Hindi film industry from industry status, corporatization, and the advent of multiplexes to the celebration of mainstream Hindi cinema in the world’s most prestigious film festivals – none of that could have been predicted by members of the industry. When I first began my research, most filmmakers were absolutely certain that the Central government would never grant industry status to filmmaking, and yet two years later, it did.

However, if I have to predict, I would say that the increasing integration between the production, distribution, and exhibition sectors that I mentioned above will continue. However, even with large companies like Reliance Big Entertainment and UTV, it appears that the independent producer and distributor are still required to carry out the actual work of producing and distributing films. The increasing partnerships between Hollywood and Hindi filmmakers will also continue; although I can’t predict where that will lead.

MBA Crystal Ball: What are the top management challenges faced by Bollywood today?

Tejaswini: There are a number that touch on a variety of issues ranging from marketing to data collection. First, I feel that filmmakers, which I’m using broadly to refer to producers, distributors, directors, and others, need to think outside of the box in terms of who they imagine their audiences to be and who they could be; they should not think that South Asians are the only audiences for their films, nor should they be locked into a mindset that views North American white audiences as some sort of holy grail, when the whole world has been watching Hindi film for decades.

Secondly, within India, I believe that filmmakers should not be content with making all of their money from a small segment of the audience, which is what the advent of multiplexes with their exorbitant ticket rates have done to the film business. The industry should be trying to grow its audience, not shrink it.

Thirdly, the industry is witnessing large infusions of capital through the entry of the corporate sector into filmmaking, but much of that capital is chasing the same stars rather than trying to cultivate new talent. Also there is a tendency for the trade to want to bet on star children and not risk taking outsiders for leading roles – I’m talking about the male leads – and I feel the industry should be trying to expand its talent base and not just automatically rely on industry members’ sons, grandsons, nephews, brothers, etc.

Finally, a consequence of the decentralized nature of the industry is that there is a real problem in terms of collecting reliable data about revenues – no one ever really knows how much money a film has made and success and failure are all relative to which position you occupy on the chain.

MBA Crystal Ball: Do you see parallels with other popular, non-Hollywood genres (e.g. dubbed martial arts movies were a rage about a decade back, but not any longer)?

Tejaswini: Not really, because I don’t believe Hindi films are some sort of fad; they may be a fad for some journalists or media outlets, but Hindi films are going to be made and be popular whether a small group in the U.S. [in media outlets or film schools] finds it exotic and curious or not.

MBA Crystal Ball: In terms of market reach, do you see the Indian film industry gaining a wider acceptibility (beyond the Indian diaspora)? Would language, culture and a highly typical desi flavour act as deterrents in the process?

Tejaswini: I already believe that Indian films have a global audience — neither language, culture, or songs have posed a problem in the past, but the challenge for filmmakers has always been to realize those profits. Part of the problem is that the global mechanisms for data collection – publications like Variety with its very EuroAmerican perspective for example — produce a very narrow picture that basically ignores and/or erases the global presence of Hindi cinema.

Also, there was nothing intrinsically universal or less culturally specific about Hollywood’s films. It was not the content, but a series of historical factors that have led to its global dominance from the devastating impact of World War 2 on the European film industries to the U.S.’s neocolonial relationships with Latin America and Japan. The U.S. is actually one of the most protected and closed film markets in the world as the MPAA is a very powerful lobby.

As I had mentioned, the U.S. government from the early part of the 20th century saw the economic and ideological potential of film exports and Hollywood was often referred to as the “little State Department.” In fact, Will Hays, the head of the MPAA in the 1920s asserted, “every foot of American film sells one dollar worth of manufactured products somewhere in the world.” So the issue of expanding market reach has to do with political and economic factors rather than simple content.

MBA Crystal Ball: What skills do we need to develop so that we get there?

Tejaswini: The Indian government needs to have a better long-term vision about how it wants to promote filmmaking in the global market. Filmmakers should dub their films into more languages to reach newer audiences, for while much of the world may be used to watching films that don’t feature their people of their own nationality, they do expect to hear their own languages. There should be better subtitling for markets where subtitling is more preferable and the songs definitely need to be subtitled and subtitled better!

Basically, filmmakers can’t afford to be pennywise and pound-foolish; that is, all of these efforts will require substantial investments, but one can’t expect to reach new markets without expenditure. If Hindi films in the past managed to reach so many audiences without any effort on the part of their makers, imagine what actually trying can do?

MBA Crystal Ball: Tell us a little about your books. What topics have you covered so far

Indian film industry booksTejaswini: My first book, Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema (2004, Routledge) which will be coming out in its 2nd edition later this year, explains the cultural, social, and political significance of Hindi cinema, outlines the history and structure of the Bombay film industry, and details the development of popular Hindi filmmaking since the 1930s. I was motivated to write this book because in the course of teaching a class on Indian cinema, I became aware of the need for a monograph that introduced the history, context, and form of Hindi cinema as well as the film industry and its production practices.

My second book, Producing Bollywood: Inside the Contemporary Hindi Film Industry, which has just been published by Duke University Press, explores the transformations in the Hindi film industry from 1995-2010, a period in which economic liberalization dramatically altered the media landscape in India – first with the advent of satellite television and then multiplex theaters. The book details how the Hindi film industry became “Bollywood” – a globally recognized and circulating brand of filmmaking, often posited by the international media as the only serious contender to Hollywood in terms of its global popularity and influence. A key feature of this transformation is that Hindi cinema and the film industry have acquired greater cultural legitimacy from the perspective of the state, the media, and English-educated/speaking elites in India, a result of what I argue is the ongoing “gentrification” of Hindi cinema and the film industry.


Despite odds, the film industry has been constantly growing. The budgets, the scale of operations and the skillsets needed are constantly expanding. And a booming industry needs skilled manpower to sustain that growth. If you have been fascinated by the industry, it can offer many career opportunities for those with solid business skills to take it to the next level.

You might be interested in reading this post written by a model –> High paying Non MBA jobs in the glamour world


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Sameer Kamat
About Sameer Kamat
Founder of MBA Crystal Ball. Author of Beyond The MBA Hype & Business Doctors. Here's more about me. Follow me on: Instagram | Linkedin | Youtube

26 thoughts on “Indian film industry (Bollywood) – Perspectives and outlook”

  1. Nice article….kudos to Tejaswini for her work and to MCB for publishig this.
    Can you please throw some light on the career opportunities in this industry ? How can someone who is passionate about this industry make a career in this arena?

    Reply
  2. Sailesh,

    There are basically 2 career paths in media (including movies, music, TV) – one in the creative side and the other in business roles. You’d have to choose one and create a strategy accordingly.

    If you are planning for an MBA (the reason you are on this site?), then I’m assuming you are targetting business and operational roles. In that case, the regular functions like marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, operations, and to an extent strategy are all open. So if you have an exposure in these areas, the cross-industry transition becomes just a little easier.

    For job opportunities in the Indian movie industry (specially for creative roles), a formal degree isn’t required. However you still need to have an understanding of the industry, various roles and have contacts (last one is the most important one).

    Reply
  3. Thank you for the article.

    I am a creative person since childhood but due to lack of awareness at early age I did not enter into film industry. I am working in the IT industry but want to switch to film industry. I love talking about business so, I am planning to go for an MBA.

    What careers are open to me? Also can you suggest me some online or other resources where I can find more information.

    Thanks

    Reply
  4. The types of careers has been partially listed in the previous response. As an MBA, you’d be involved in the business and operational aspects of movies (very little on the creative side).

    You might find this infographic [edit: link no longer active] interesting, though it’s more about Hollywood rather than Bollywood.

    The websites of the bschools you are targetting should have specific resources on the topic, in the careers section. So check those out.

    NYU offers a dual degree MBA-MFA for those interested in producing and financing movies or being associated in a wider range of functions. It could also open up opportunities in the television industry.

    Reply
  5. sir
    please tell me the software careers in Bollywood film industry.i had done MCA and i have an experince of 4 years in software development.

    Reply
  6. can you please tell me after getting an MBA degree, specifically which type of job i can get and how much is it going to earn for me and tell me how it is going to help in the film’s business and quality of the film? would u please suggest a job profile in detail for any specialization in MBA

    Reply
  7. @Sunil: Software careers in the film industry could be your regular behind-the-scenes enabling stuff (out of the box or custom developed software packages) or the more glamorous & visible parts (on-screen animation, special effects etc). There are different companies that specialise in these fields. Depending on your specific skills, you’ll have to approach them directly.

    @Sushil: Either your query is too generic or I haven’t been able to understand what you specifically want to know. So tough to respond to it, bro.

    Reply
  8. Sir, I am a MBA student in NIT, Silchar and have opted for specializations in HR and Marketing. I was wondering if i could do some training or summer internship in entertainment industry. Please suggest me some career options in Bollywood or entertainment industry in general. Can a MBA student get absorbed in this field.

    Reply
  9. Nimimesh,

    Sure, you can go for a summer internship in the entertainment industry. But your focus is too broad. You’ll have to narrow it down to a specific role in a specific production house or any of the peripheral domains that support the primary industry (like the media ‘vertical’ in financial institutions) that’ll value your qualifications.

    In India, you don’t need an MBA to enter the entertainment industry. You need contacts to get you the first break. Do you have any?

    Reply
  10. Hi Sameer , This is Tarak a Software Engineer from IBM software company.. Basically I am interested to share in the area of movie scripts which is innovative and with ideas..How can I do so and whom to contact for the same ?
    It is just my interest that I want to see a movie whose script is written by me…and then just enjoy…But you know no one in film industry entertains common person…So kindly highlight on this.
    I had been looking for an opportunity in which I can share my thoughts and innovative ideas in terms of creating movie scripts or tv shows and so on..

    Reply
  11. Tarak,

    Even the low budget movies need financing that runs into crores of rupees. So the motivation for any producer to invest in a script, has to go beyond satisfying the script-writer’s desire to see his story come alive on celluloid.

    For the creative aspects of movie-making, the reliance on contacts and credibility in the movie industry is even higher. Try to get in touch with folks who are already working in the industry, share your ideas and get some feedback from them.

    If you are a nobody in the industry, be prepared for those ideas to be stolen.

    The other option is to write a novel that becomes a best-seller, so you get the attention of folks from the movie industry to convert that into a script. Here are some ideas on how to write a book and get published in India.

    Reply
  12. Hello Sir,
    I would like to know that the producers who invests money in the industry through which channels & sources get their money back & earn the income

    Reply
  13. Priyanka,

    I’m not sure I understand your question correctly. There are production houses that make movies. The money management part is done by professionals employed by these companies.

    Apart from the ticket sales, the revenue can come from other subsidiary rights as well – like songs, TV / overseas broadcasting rights, merchandise etc.

    Reply
  14. This article was so informative. I’d like to know if I can get more information on the organisational structure of distributors of Bollywood.Information relating to marketing perspective would add more meaning.

    Thank you!

    Reply
  15. i am interested in screenwriting and direction as a career…but i have failed in the hands of mba and getting a job mentality,filled in my parents’ minds.please guide me. i just finished college but my degree would be allotted to me next year as i was feeling sick and failed in the last semester of gujarat university. i live in ahmedabad. i want to put my desire and potential passion in the active mode. please help. thank you.

    Reply
  16. Hello Mem,

    I Had done MBA & Working since 5 years in different zonals. Worked in Marketing Field , Customer Care Management , Admisnitrative role & Even HR Roles too.

    Am interested in Media Industry . Request to guide me for proper channel.

    Thanks & Regards

    Sandeep

    Reply
  17. sir,
    I have been selected in tv serial kill/love of rk production but in character role,should i go for this or should i do my btech. IS there any stream that turns my character role into lead role in movies
    thank u

    Reply
  18. Ayyo, this seems to be going off on a tangent!

    Bhai log, we don’t specialise in Bollywood, we have not invested in a casting couch (yet).

    We can’t help you decide whether you should choose between character roles.

    Reply
  19. HI Sameer,

    I have got very specific question. Here I go…

    I have worked with A R Rahman & Shekhar Kapur in one of their tech start-up as a leading tech position. I was exposed to this media and entertainment domain and kind of liked it. Now I am applying to Anderson – UCLA and since Anderson sends good chunk of its batch in Media/Enter industry, I want my this exp to get highlighted in essays and I am in progress of doing so. I was searching for need of business guys in Bollywood and planning to frame my story towards acquiring skills from Hollywood to untangle disoriented Bollywood. I feel like muddled up. I would really appreciate if you could throw some suggestions that can strike out in my essays.

    Many Thanks Man…MCB Rocks!!

    Reply
  20. @Karan: UCLA Anderson is a good choice for the career goal you have in mind – if (a big IF) you were planning to use those skills in Hollywood. However, it might seem like a stretch to claim that an MBA will help you untangle Bollywood.

    There are huge historical and cultural differences in which the two industries operate. So be more specific about one-two areas where you’d like to see that untangling happening – financing, marketing, distribution.

    To cite an example, we helped someone a couple of years back who had a family business in Bollywood (distribution side). But the candidate came from a technology background, with a part-time involvement in the movie distribution business.

    We brainstormed on what he (and his dad) had already done for the business and what he could get involved in. He got into a top-notch European MBA program.

    Big plans won’t impress Adcoms. Be specific and practical in defining and presenting your goals.

    Reply
    • hello sameer kamath . am santosh from hyderabad . doing my MBA and now am in final semister.i have some doubts on these . am planning to make a project on this film industry . the project is how the difference should be the project management of film industry compare to other projets if their is any idea with you just mail me your suggestion
      its my mail id santosh.irukula@yahoo.com

      Reply
  21. Hi Sameer,

    It was an interseting article to read.

    Currently I am pursuing my MBA in UK. For my MBA project, I would like to choose a business related topic in Movie Industry. Can you suggest specific business topics or any websites where I can find potential business topics for MBA Project in Movie Industry

    Reply
  22. Hey sameer
    Thanks a lot for bringing in such a lovely topic by tejaswini.. And bringing in so many people here,,,, I have been in this film industry since 1996,,,, looking it very closely… There is a always a catch.. There is no system followed in industry ,, locha wahi se shuru hota hai, every one knows everything,,, I have just completed my first hindi film love shagun as director,, and meeting so many people ,, and I am getting it strongly that some system can be created so filmindustry won’t be blind game for everyone it can be worked out fine,, I would be interested if so many mba’s are taking interest and they want to study and do research,, I would love to support them if it turns out good for industry

    Reply

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