Orienting Hollywood: A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay

256 Pages·2015·5.129 MB·English

by  Nitin Govil

.d
e
vre
se
r sth
g
ir llA
.sse
rP
ytisre
vin
U
kro
Y
w
e
N
.5
1
0
2
©
th
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
Orienting Hollywood
.d
e
vre
se
r sth
g
ir llA
.sse
rP
ytisre
vin
U
kro
Y
w
e
N
.5
1
0
2
©
th
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
CRITICAL CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
General Editors: Sarah Banet-Weiser and Kent A. Ono
Dangerous Curves: Latina Bodies in Technomobility in China: Young Migrant
the Media Women and Mobile Phones
Isabel Molina-Guzmán Cara Wallis
The Net Effect: Romanticism, Capitalism, Love and Money: Queers, Class, and
and the Internet Cultural Production
Thomas Streeter Lisa Henderson
Our Biometric Future:Facial Recognition Cached: Decoding the Internet in Global
Technology and the Culture of Surveillance Popular Culture
Kelly A. Gates Stephanie Ricker Schulte
Critical Rhetorics of Race Black Television Travels: African American
Edited by Michael G. Lacy Media around the Globe
and Kent A. Ono Timothy Havens
Circuits of Visibility: Gender and Citizenship Excess: Latino/as, Media, and
Transnational Media Cultures the Nation
Edited by Radha S. Hegde Hector Amaya
Commodity Activism: Cultural Resistance Feeling Mediated: A History of
in Neoliberal Times Communication Technology and
Edited by Roopali Mukherjee and Emotion in America
Sarah Banet-Weiser Brenton J. Malin
Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Suiting Up: Cultures of Management in the
Representation after 9/11 Media Industries
.d Evelyn Alsultany Edited by Derek Johnson, Derek
e
vrese Visualizing Atrocity: Arendt, Evil, and the Kompare, and Avi Santo
r sth Optics of Thoughtlessness Sounds of Belonging:Public Advocacy on
g
ir llA Valerie Hartouni U.S. Spanish-language Radio, 1922–2006
.sse The Makeover: Reality Television and Dolores Inés Casillas
rP
ytisrevin RKeaftlheexrivine eA Suednidenerces OCuriletunrtein bge Htwoelleynw Looosd A: Ang Celeens taunrdy oBfo Fmilbma y
U kro Authentic™: The Politics of Ambivalence in Nitin Govil
Y
w a Brand Culture
e
N
.5 Sarah Banet-Weiser
1
0
2
©
th
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
Orienting Hollywood
A Century of Film Culture between Los Angeles
and Bombay
Nitin Govil
.d
e
vre
se
r sth
g
ir llA
.sse
rP
ytisre
vin
U
kro
Y
w
e
N
.5
1
0 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
2
©
th New York and London
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2015 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the au-
thor nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed
since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Govil, Nitin.
Orienting Hollywood : a century of film culture between Los Angeles and Bombay / Nitin
Govil.
.d pages cm. — (Critical cultural communication)
e
vre Includes bibliographical references and index.
ser sth I1.S MBNo t9io7n8 -p0i-c8t1u4r7e- i8n5d8u7s-4tr y(c—l :C aalkli.f opranpiear—) —Lo IsS ABnNg e9l7e8s-—0-H8i1s4t7o-r8y9324. -M6 o(ptibo n: a plkic. tpuarpe er)
g
ir llA industry—India—Mumbai—History. 3. Motion pictures—India—Influence.
.sserP 4PN. M19o9t3i.o5n.U p6i5cGt6u3r5e5s—U20n1i5ted States—Influence. I. Title.
ytisre 384’.80979494—dc23 2014040536
vin New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials
U
kroY aarned c mhoasteenri afolsr tsot rtehneg gthre aanteds td euxrtaebnilti tpyo. sWsieb lset riinv ep tuob ulisseh ienngv ioruorn bmoeonktsa.lly responsible suppliers
w
e
N Manufactured in the United States of America
.5
1
02 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
©
th Also available as an ebook
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Narrating Encounter 1
1. Framing the Copy: Media Industries and the Poetics of
Resemblance 41
2. Managing Exchange: Geographies of Finance in the Media
Industries 77
3. The Theater of Influence: Reimagining Indian Film
Exhibition 115
4. Economies of Devotion: Affective Engagement and the
Subject(s) of Labor 153
Conclusion: Close Encounters of the Industrial Kind 183
Notes 193
Index 235
About the Author 245
.d
e
vre
se
r sth
g
ir llA
.sse
rP
ytisre
vin
U
kro
Y
w
e
N
.5
1
0
2
©
th
g
iryp
o
C
v
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
This page intentionally left blank
.d
e
vre
se
r sth
g
ir llA
.sse
rP
ytisre
vin
U
kro
Y
w
e
N
.5
1
0
2
©
th
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
Acknowledgments
No matter what we are carrying across a border, most of us avoid the
“something to declare” checkpoint. In ferrying this book across the fin-
ish line, I would like to linger for a moment and declare my thanks to
those who have made the journey possible.
The initial research for this book began at the Department of Cinema
Studies at New York University. I am deeply grateful to Richard Maxwell,
Anna McCarthy, Manjunath Pendakur, George Yúdice, and most im-
portantly Toby Miller, for their engagement and encouragement. These
smart people helped to assemble scattered ideas into an argument. I’d
also like to thank the rest of the Cinema Studies faculty and staff for
their many kindnesses during my time at NYU, especially Richard Allen,
Ventura Castro, William Simon, Robert Stam, Chris Straayer, Ken Swee-
ney, and Zhang Zhen.
I was fortunate to develop the research for this project with the
generous support of colleagues at the University of Virginia and the
University of California, San Diego. Thanks to Patrick Anderson,
Gayle Aruta, LoriAnne Barnett, Lauren Berliner, Aniko Bodroghozy,
Bethany Bryson, Lisa Cartwright, Sharon Corse, Johanna Drucker,
Rita Felski, Gary Fields, Liz Floyd, Susan Fraiman, David Golum-
.d
e
vre bia, Dan Hallin, Val Hartouni, Sharon Hays, Robert Horwitz, Krishan
ser sth Kumar, Kate Levitt, Jamie Lloyd, Carl McKinney, and Pawan Singh.
gir llA At UCSD, the Hellman Fellowship Program and the Faculty Career
.sse Development Program supported writing during the latter stages of
rP the project.
ytisre As the book neared completion, my new colleagues at the Univer-
vin
U sity of Southern California welcomed me into a collegial and productive
kro
Y atmosphere for research and writing. I would especially like to thank
w
e
N Christine Acham, Jade Agua, Sarah Banet-Weiser, Elizabeth Daley, Mike
.5
1
0 Dillon, Kate Fortmueller, Larry Gross, Anikó Imre, Priya Jaikumar, Rick
2
©
th Jewell, Kara Keeling, Neetu Khanna, Akira Lippit, Tara McPherson,
g
iryp
o
C
vii
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
viii | Acknowledgments
Shana Redmond, Michael Renov, Ellen Seiter, Laura Serna, Alicia White,
and Bill Whittington.
As with most projects with an extensive archival component, only a
fraction of the consulted material appears in the notes at the end of this
book. I would like to acknowledge the library staff at the following insti-
tutions for their generous help in researching well over fifty newspapers,
periodicals, and trade journals, as well as providing access to innumer-
able memoranda, policy documents, trade reports, letters, and other
ephemera: Anwar Jamal Kidwai Mass Communication Research Cen-
tre, Jamma Millia Islamia, Delhi; Asiatic Society, Mumbai and Kolkata;
National Archives of India, Delhi; Nehru Memorial Library, Delhi; and
V. Shantaram Foundation, Mumbai. I would especially like to thank Bar-
bara Hall at the Margaret Herrick Library, Ned Comstock at the Warner
Brothers Archive, and Moslem Quraishy at the Sarai Archives for their
assistance. I must express my deep gratitude to Debashree Mukherjee
for her diligent research support and expert advice during the course of
research.
This project benefited from talks and presentations in North Amer-
ica, Europe, and South Asia. I would like to thank Michael Curtin, Lars
Eckstein, Greg Elmer, Joe Karaganis, Suvir Kaul, Purnima Mankekar,
Allison Perlman, Kevin Sanson, Anja Schwartz, Shuddhabrata Sengupta,
Paul Smith, Michael Szalay, Rosie Thomas, and Ravi Vasudevan for their
generous invitations.
Many artists, practitioners, policy makers, trade and industry repre-
sentatives, and journalists generously granted interviews accompanied
by drink and the occasional armed guard. Special thanks to Saleem
.d
e
vre Ahmadullah, Javed Akhtar, Madhusudan Anand, Fayyaz B., Shailaja
ser sth Bajpai, Simrat Brar, Yash Chopra, Uma da Cunha, Kunal Dasgupta,
gir llA Siddhartha Dasgupta, Blaise Fernandes, Jacinto Fernandes, Ashutosh
.sse Gowariker, Ravi Gupta, Nina Lath Gupta, Jiten Hemdev, Karan Johar,
rP Jyoti, Nikhat Kazmi, Aamir Khan, Farah Khan, Pankaj Khandpur,
ytisre Amit Khanna, Alex Kuruvilla, Manish Malhotra, Gul Nanda, Rahul
vin
U Nanda, A. M. Padmanabhan, Anjum Rajabali, Sharmishta Roy, Kapil
kro
Y Saha, Supran Sen, Shankar, Aditya Shastri, Shravan Shroff, Sarabjit
w
e
N Singh, Uday Singh, D. F. H. Sidhwa, Shridhar Subramaniam, and
.5
1
0 Prakash B. Verma.
2
©
th
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.
Acknowledgments | ix
The wonderful folks at New York University Press helped steward the
project as it traveled from initial proposal to final manuscript. I’d like to
thank Ciara McLaughlin, Alicia Nadkarni, Kent Ono, and Eric Zinner
for their support. Above all, the inimitable Sarah Banet-Weiser trusted
in this project from the beginning—I so appreciate her enthusiasm and
engagement. In addition to thanking the two anonymous reviewers for
their careful feedback, I would also like to thank Anikó Imre, Priya Jai-
kumar, Carl McKinney, John McMurria, Denise McKenna, and Shawn
Shimpach, who all generously offered detailed comments on the manu-
script in various stages of completion.
So many friends have offered help, collaboration, and inspiration
along the way. I’d like to thank in particular: Paula Chakravartty, Mat-
thew Fee, Tejaswini Ganti, Michael Gillespie, Roger Hallas, Jennifer
Holt, Eric Hoyt, Brian Larkin, Nancy Kwak, Sudhir Mahadevan, Neepa
Majumdar, Mia Mask, Debashree Mukherjee, Roopali Mukherjee, Kar-
tik Nair, Lisa Parks, Aswin Punathambekar, Ken Rogers, Bhaskar Sarkar,
Jessica Scarlata, Lorca Shepperd, Rosie Thomas, Ravi Vasudevan, and
Federico Windhausen. Special thanks to Ira Bhaskar, John McMurria,
and Shawn Shimpach for their friendship, warmth, and encouragement.
Ravi Sundaram’s camaraderie, playful cynicism, and tremendous
insight have sustained me throughout the project. Ranjani Mazumdar
has remained my dearest confidant and sparring partner during a time
when I so needed both. Ravi and Ranjani’s East Delhi apartment has
been a home away from home for almost fifteen years. This book is sim-
ply unimaginable without them.
My extended family in India—especially the Govils in Gurgaon, the
.d
e
vre Parmars in Noida, the Mohans in Saket, and the Golerias in Andheri—
ser sth kindly put me up and helped me whenever they could. I would also like
gir llA to thank Ela Prakash and Monika Prakash for their support. I will always
.sse be so grateful for Denise McKenna’s unwavering confidence. More than
rP anyone else, our daughter, Anya, will be glad that the book is finally
ytisre done!
vin
U When I was very young, my parents told me that I was made in Japan
kro
Y but born in India. As I surreptitiously polished off their last remain-
w
e
N ing drops of Johnnie Walker Black—some childhood habits are hard to
.5
1
0 break—I would repeat that joke to the grownups at our family parties
2
©
th
g
iryp
o
C
Govil, Nitin. Orienting Hollywood : A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and Bombay, New York University Press,
2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3564334.
Created from rutgers-ebooks on 2021-07-05 08:50:55.