BOLLYWOOD: EMBODIMENT OF INDIANNESS IN THE DIASPORA

Commercial Hindi cinema plays a central role in the negotiation of national identity. With the rise of Hindu nationalism, the Non Resident Indian (NRI) became the epitome of Indianness and inculcated Hindu traditionalism, patriarchy and modernity. Popular Hindi Cinema was first made in India in 1913 and portrayed a central role in the formulation of national identity. It thus becomes the strongest agency for the creation of a national mythology of heroism, consumerism, leisure and sociality (Therwath 2010). A few films like DilwaleDulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ, Aditya Chopra 1995), Pardes (SubhashGhai 1997), KuchKuchHota Hai (Karan Johar 1998), KabhiKhushiKabhieGham (K3G, Karan Johar 2001) are some of the examples. Therwath in his “‘Shining Indians': Diaspora and Exemplarity in Bollywood” quotes Yash Chopra during his address at the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), that ‘our moral responsibility is to depict India at its best. We're the historians of India […]. The Indian Diaspora must maintain its identity, its roots' (Chopra 2003).