CCSinM

British Invasion

I couldn't help thinking about the influence of British culture on the two samples of the Bollywood style that we saw today in class. I thought especially of one of the opening scenes of the first Austin Powers movie while we watched the second clip. To be sure, Bollywood seeks only to entertain its audience. No big questions are asked. Its viewers aren't challenged. But isn't that also the case with much British pop music? It's simply entertainment. In both genres, there seems to be a strict formula for success, or rather a formula that consistently yields high returns for the industry. More than anything these industries seek profits, not musical genius. Without the British occupation and exploitation of India, would Indians have learned how to exploit their own people with such highly 'packaged' goods? It seems to me that without the British, the Indian people would never have been receptive to something like Bollywood.