As the lure of Bollywood spreads across the world, the University of Cambridge has decided to hold an event to explore how the globalisation of Indian cinema presents opportunities for the West.
The event, organised by the university’s Centre for India and Global Business in the Judge Business School, will feature major figures in the entertainment industry in India and the West.
Titled ‘Globalisation of Indian Cinema: Opportunities for the West’, it will be held on September 19.
The programme, which will coincide with the Cambridge Film Festival, will explore how the Indian film industry is going global, its various engagements with western players and its long-term goals.
The event will focus on how Bollywood is implementing transnational collaborations between Indian and Western film sectors and how a sluggish American economy has led Hollywood to court Indian film producers for funds.Recent examples include the India-based Reliance Big Entertainment’s $1 billion plan to co-develop and co-produce movies with Hollywood heavy hitters such as Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks SKG to feed the growing global consumer demand.
Speakers include leading experts such as Patrick von Sychowski, Chief Operations Officer, AdLabs, a Reliance Big Entertainment Company; actor Anupam Kher; Parminder Vir, executive producer and Media Consultant; and Partho Sen-Gupta, an Independent film director.
The experts will offer experiences and consider whether these collaborations are the beginning of a marriage of two cultures, how to orchestrate transnational creative networks and the opportunities they will create for the international cinema industry.
Professor Jaideep Prabhu, the Jawaharlal Nehru Professor of Indian Business and Enterprise at the university, said: “Indian films have always enjoyed a large global audience. But it is only recently that the Indian cinema industry has begun to engage the Western film sector and vice-versa to pursue mutually beneficial partnerships.”
He added: “This transnational collaboration is poised to gain more momentum in coming years. That’s why we at the Centre for India & Global Business are excited to host this event to explore how large, as well as independent producers and directors from India, US, and Europe, are joining forces to reshape the global creative economy.”
