Bollywood is actually a wounded cinema in a lot
of ways… it seems to have lost touch with its
traditional audience and its revenues have been
severely disturbed by changes in the means of
distribution. The real key to the glory days of
Bollywood were that cinemas were a place to
get out of the Indian heat, so you could sell
tickets to the air conditioning while presenting
the movie as a kind of billboard.
With better electricity services in India and
home DVD players, Bollywood hit the rocks.
But I enjoy watching its enterprising struggle;
I think it’s got a good chance to become
the first truly post-national cinema, a
form of expression by global emigres
for global emigres.
I really just cannot get enough of this guy. You can check out Bruce Sterling’s regular weblog here.