Hollywood/Bollywood - Sepia Mutiny

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August 9, 2005

Hollywood/Bollywood

The giant, shiny flying phallus of American cultural export parks its hairy business end in Bombay next year (via Desi Flavor):

The first Planet Hollywood will open in Mumbai in 2006 and muscular superstars Sly Stallone and Bruce Willis will be flying down for the occasion… Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Goa and Hyderabad [are] the destinations of choice. [Link]

Selling cowburgers and crappy food: it’s the ideal business plan for India Actually, people are just as Hollystruck as Bollystruck, and you’ll notice they send out the action stars to overseas destinations — Rambo and Die Hard, with their limited dialogue, are amenable to cheap translation. Indian restaurants have decked themselves in Bollywood memorabilia for ages. And if there’s one culture that has an unironic affinity for kitsch…

POSTED BY manish @ 2:14 PM

11 comments

1 · Amardeep on August 9, 2005 2:36 PM · Direct link

I have a plan to start a sports bar empire in Indian metros.

Something in the vein of ESPN Zone I guess. There are currently some sports bars in places like Bombay and Bangalore, but I don't think they're really achieving their full commercial potential. Some of the "sports bars" I've been to in India are really glorified bowling alleys...

Then again, to do that, we would need to get Indians obsessed with more than one sport. There seems to be the beginnings of a tennis fixation (which might get big if Sania Mirza starts winning some matches). And there ought to be a golf fixation (if only Vijay Singh would make some trips to India and smile every so often...).

2 · DesiDudeInAustin on August 9, 2005 2:42 PM · Direct link

...limited dialogue, are amenable to cheap translation.

Maybe they should have flown Keanu Reeves in too.

.. themes are important, they also create the whole impact about a place," says Rahul Makkar, who runs Mercuries, which has solar system as its theme

A molten metal-filled planet with day-time temperatures over 400 degrees...now that's ambience for the truly extreme thrill seekers..no? Will the uncles and aunties really dig that?

3 · Vikram Arumilli on August 9, 2005 2:59 PM · Direct link

Amardeep,

Arjun Atwal is a golfer from India who has actually played quite well on the PGA tour this year. He has earned over $800K and is going to be the first Indian to play in the PGA Championship, which takes place this weekend.

Maybe he can create the "golf fixation" in India which Vijay Singh has not been able to do.

Vikram

4 · Bong Breaker on August 9, 2005 3:13 PM · Direct link

Amardeep, Vijay Singh is very vocal that he is FIJIIAN and not Indian, OK fair enough. But I don't think you can count on him to bring any Indians into sport. Look to...Arjun Atwal or Shiv Kapur.

I haven't been to India for several years, but a family friend of Narayan Karthikeyan informs me he is "second only to Tendulkar". My girlfriend's in BLR now and says he definitely BIG. I've been keeping an eye on him, got quite into F1 over the last few years.

Like Narayan, the British press seem to like Sania Mirza. The BBC commentators raved about her during Wimbledon and she got plenty of screen time for someone so unknown. It'd be great if an Indian woman makes it big in world sport, really fantastic.

On that note Joshna Chinappa reached the final of the World Junior Squash Champs and Anju Bobby George continues to turn in handy performances in the long jump, having jumped the 6th furthest this year. She's in action in Helsinki at the moment, having qualified for the final.

I'm not jumping on India Today's chirpy bandwagon, I still think India are pathetically underachieving at sport, but at least things are looking up slightly. We have a top squash (mens) player, billiards player and chess whizzkid, the names of whom all escape me.

I haven't got the sporting vibe from SM so far, but I've made dramatically incorrect and sweeping generalisations before, so are you lot into your sports?

5 · MoorNam on August 9, 2005 3:19 PM · Direct link

>>Maybe he can create the "golf fixation" in India which Vijay Singh has not been able to do

I've noticed that golf in India is a very expensive sport when compared to western countries. The only golf courses are in the outskirts of the cities, and the heat and dust make them prohibitively expensive to maintain the turf. Add on the fact that the roads leading to these places are pot-hole ridden, and other infrastructure like electricity is not reliable.

I doubt if golf will become popular in India unless the population becomes suburbanised like the US.

M. Nam

6 · Bong Breaker on August 9, 2005 3:46 PM · Direct link

I don't know about that MoorNam. Sure the majority of people don't have the means to play golf, but there are still a few tens of millions that do! Atwal himself (unless I'm getting him muddled with Shiv Kapur) had no formal eduacation and taught himself golf. The no money line is a cop out Indians use over and over to excuse their woeful sporting prowess.

7 · Ananthan on August 9, 2005 3:52 PM · Direct link

i think the biggest problem with golf is that it sucks

8 · BJ on August 9, 2005 4:06 PM · Direct link

Saying it "sucks" is a bit too much ... I don't enjoy it much ... but I love the driving range ... that is one place I enjoy! Another thing I love is the little golf kart. So in all ... golf ain't that bad.

9 · Bong Breaker on August 9, 2005 4:24 PM · Direct link

I'm trying to grow into golf. It's an important sport for networking! I'm complete shite now...but you just wait, I'll get so good that I can lose to my boss but make it look as though I really tried.

10 · Bong licker on August 9, 2005 10:13 PM · Direct link

YEah and by networking you mean ass kissing , no?

11 · Bong Breaker on August 10, 2005 12:01 AM · Direct link

YEah and by networking you mean ass kissing , no?

Of course I do. How else am I supposed to get ahead?

Work?!

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