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Journalism of Courage
Here’s another one for the swadeshi brigade: Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan says he is in favour of allowing foreign direct investment in the Indian film industry. The Left and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch may cringe at the thought, but Mahajan’s statement of intent is bound to be cheered by the country’s film establishment. For a sector securely entrapped in the tentacles of the underworld, any prospect of alternate avenues of capital can only offer a sliver of hope that it will become less of a money laundering business and reclaim old goals of artistic excellence.
But perhaps, it is also in keeping with the spirit of the nineties to hope that FDI will be the panacea for all our ills. It does not require much wisdom to realise that foreign investors are driven by the lure of profit, and that alone. As the entertainment industry undergoes a churning process, guaranteed returns will remain a chimera for some time to come. Sure, even the phenomenal success of films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai cannot be offered as an enticement; for every KKHH, there is a Chinagate, for every Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge a Dil Se. And even if foreign investment materialises, it is bound to be restricted to copybook formula films; but cinema sans the stars of the day and a bubblegum/Chambal-meets-John Waynestoryline will probably find few takers. So, it’s not as if Mahajan’s well-intentioned policy statement will be a dud, but its benefit will most likely be limited to the very producers who already have the edge, who would already be aided by Mahajan’s predecessor Sushma Swaraj’s decision to accord films an industry status.
And, of course, any whiff of foreign investment will be accompanied by cries of cultural imperialism. Given the heartening response to Hollywood imports like Jurassic Park and Speed (especially with dubbing in regional languages), foreign studios will endeavour to exploit any reforms to market their own wares, not give a fillip to local talent. Even foreign-funded Indian cinema will inevitably be scrutinised for insidious designs. Such phobia is not specific to India — an obvious example being the French establishment’s current worry about Hollywood destroying the world as the French know it. However, to use an old cliche, let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater; the governmentshould certainly regulate and channelise FDI in the film industry but simultaneously it cannot delay organising the sector and resuming its role as a patron of quality art.
