1. ‘‘I Need an Indian Touch’’:
Glocalization and Bollywood Films
Shakuntala Rao
Malissa Parks
2. Summary: Objective of Study and
Rationale
• This article looked at the need for “an Indian
touch” while using global influences. The
popularity of a Bollywood film had to maintain
a balance between Indian tradition and
Western influences.
• As more Indians lived in the West and the
television and film industry opened to India,
the strategies of filmmakers changed to adapt
the visual styles and global formats.
3. Summary: Method and Process
• Rao conducted 49 formal and informal
interviews with men and women (ages 22-39)
in Punjab, India between 2005 and 2006.
– Interviewees were students of Punjabi University
or their family members
– They went to theater no more than once a month
and watched one or two films a week on TV
• Questionnaires were used, as well as, in home
studies watching films with interviewees
4. Summary: Findings
• “Punjabi or Indian audiences demand that in order to be
popular, globalized Bollywood films successfully
negotiate between the global and the local” (Rao, 2010,
pg. 6).
– With clothing, actors/actresses can wear Western clothes most
of the movie, but at least one of the scenes they must wear a
sari or salwar kameej.
– Location can be foreign, as long as the story has an Indian feel to
it.
– Song and dance are still the heart of Bollywood films
– Films must still have a lot of emotion (crying, anger, and
fighting).
5. Summary: Approach
• The approach Rao used was Interpretive.
– It was a field study of going into the interviewees
home and watching movies with them while
talking to them about Politics and other facts.
– He also conducted interviews with the
participants.
– Rao made sure to converse with the participants
to avoid “’absences’ within a nondirective
interview strategy” (Rao, 2010, pg. 6).
6. Quote 1
• “Today’s globalizing culture is characterized by
‘organization of diversity rather than replication
of uniformity’” (Rao, 2010, pg. 3).
– It seems the Bollywood films have a major emphasis
on balancing some of their traditions with the
Westernization. Although they want Indian actors,
occasional Indian clothing, and Indian theatrics, the
film can still take place internationally with a major
Western cultural role.
– I picked this quote because I thought it was important
to show that Indians want to have the diversity in
their films, but they still want their culture
represented.
7. Quote 2
• “Globalization, for Robertson, falls short of
rendering the complexity of international
dynamics, and glocalization is offered as a more
appropriate notion to the theoretically ground
the paradoxical forces of the global and local”
(Rao, 2010, pg. 4).
– The Bollywood film industry makes its global aspect in
the location and clothing, while still having the local
culture of the song and dance with emotion and the
occasional Indian dress.
– I picked this quote, because it seems to outline the
complete article with just this one statement.
8. Question 1
• Which culture do you think is represented in
the Bollywood film industry, and is it the same
culture represented in your article? If not,
what culture is represented in your article and
why do you think they differ?
9. Question 2
• Do you think the interpretive method was the
most beneficial for this study, or do you think
that Rao could have better used the Social
Science or Critical approach to complete the
study?
10. Resources
• Rao, S. (2010). “I Need an Indian Touch”:
Glocalization and Bollywood Films. Journal
of International and Intercultural
Communication, 3(1), 1-19.
