How Bollywood’s idiom, deeply rooted in India’s culture, takes root in different parts of the world.

Hot gusher

Like molten lava, flowing in underground channels, bursting in unexpected places, Bollywood fires people’s imaginations in the most unlikely places.

Among the ruins of Machu Pichu, in the remote fastness of the Andes, there is an unlikely love affair blossoming between Hindi films and Spanish-speaking locals. Cuzco, the ancient capital city of the Incas, today comes alive to the sounds of Bollywood.

People have become Krishna-bhakts– and Indian trinkets are bought at huge prices.

In Andean peaks and valleys

Unlike, usual Bollywood markets, there are no NRIs, or any historical connection between these mountain remotes in Peru and India.

An American academic traveling in the Amazon villages, reports.

visiting a small rural community in a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon, and suddenly heard the strains of a Bollywood film song wafting out into the street from a transistor radio in someone’s home. Villagers assured me they loved these songs! I was in the village working on a project to strengthen community-based environmental conservation initiatives. As an anthropologist born in India but working in Peru for the Field Museum in Chicago, I get a lot of questions from people I meet here. South Americans are just as fascinated with India as many other people around the world. Most of the Peruvians I meet—whether professionals or small rural farmers have encountered India through Bollywood. Movies (accessed through pirated and legitimate DVD markets) are highly popular, as are dance videos and film songs played ubiquitously on radio stations. Indeed, the attraction to Bollywood goes back a long way. Colleagues in their forties and fifties talk of the affectionate memories they have of watching “Haathi Mere Saathi” and other classic films when they were young. So, even though the South Asian populations in most of South America are small and scattered, aspects of Indian culture permeate the continent. Of course, some readers might roll their eyes at the thought of Indian culture seen through the fractured lens of Bollywood, but my anecdotal and totally non-scientific assessment is that India has a better image here than the United States. (via Bollywood in Peru | NetIP North America Blog).

Cuzco – Under ‘Indian’ rule again?

An Australian, Glen Short, while shooting a short film, Aussies in the Andes, discovered that Bollywood rules. Associated with Bollywood, having done some bit roles, Glen Short was no stranger to Bollywood.

As this story spread, it was no surprise, when it was announced that