Dispensing Nostalgia for a Price: Bollywood in the Lives of Indo-Fijians

Abstract

Indian culture, dispensed through colorful musicals of Bollywood, remains a common thread of emotional connection for the Indian diaspora spread around the globe in more than 100 countries. Indo-Fijian diaspora, unlike its counterpart in the developed nations where Indians migrated of their own choice, and often hold white collar jobs, is formed of a varied group that almost replicates India in the range of jobs they hold. Despite that similarity, old Indian diaspora remains missing from the Bollywood content that it consumes. This article, through data collected in the Fiji Islands, illustrates the concrete practices that Indo-Fijians engage in to access, and experience Bollywood.

Full text

Article
Dispensing Nostalgia for a Price
Bollywood in the Lives of Indo-Fijians
Charu Uppal
Abstract
Indian culture, dispensed through colorful musicals of Bollywood, remains a common thread of
emotional connection for the Indian diaspora spread around the globe in more than 100 countries.
Indo-Fijian diaspora, unlike its counterpart in the developed nations where Indians migrated of their
own choice, and often hold white collar jobs, is formed of a varied group that almost replicates India
in the range of jobs they hold. Despite that similarity, old Indian diaspora remains missing from the
Bollywood content that it consumes. This article, through data collected in the Fiji Islands, illustrates
the concrete practices that Indo-Fijians engage in to access, and experience Bollywood.
Keywords
Bollywood, old-Indian diaspora, globalization, Fiji, Indo-Fijians
Indian movies were India, only more so. (Pico Iyer 1988)
Finally, there is a word for where I live. (S. M. Kalita)
The Diaspora space is the site where the native is as much a diaspora as the Diaspora is a native. (Brah 1996)
A Diaspora exists precisely because it remembers the ‘homeland’. (Lal et al. 2008, p. 18)
Nearly 24 million large, the Indian diaspora boasts a population more than that of some European
countries. Indian communities form a sizable portion of the population in countries such as Singapore,
Mauritius, Malaysia, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Fiji. In some countries like Fiji, the Indian
diasporic community constitutes over one-third of the population (Field et al. 2005). Although
Indo-Fijians are spread throughout the island nation and have intermarried with native Fijians, the
relationship between the two main ethnicities has experienced socio-political tensions. In Fiji, there
have been coups and debates about sending these ‘migrant’ populations, from five to seven generations
ago, back to their ‘homelands’ (ibid.). Often, the arguments given for suggestions of repatriation
have been based in an argument that Indo-Fijians have divided loyalties. Following the framework
provided by Wiley (2004), where he urges moving beyond the traditional theories of nationalism and
national identity, this article asks new questions about the role of the media in establishing a unique
(national and cultural) identity borrowed from a land with which one has little physical or filial
Journal of Creative Communications
6(1&2) 103–121
© 2011 Mudra Institute
of Communications
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/0973258613499102
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connection. This is an exploratory study to elicit information on concrete practices that intersect with
the processes of globalization, as the diaspora consumes ‘homeland’ media to maintain and reconcile
its multiple identities.
This article is the first in a series that explores the role that Bollywood1 and other Indian media
products from India, focusing mainly on entertainment, play in the diasporic self-identification with
India or ‘Indianness’ among Indo-Fijians. How does an imagined India, via its entertainment media,
reach the hearts and minds of the people of Indian origin (PIO), living outside of India? And how does
this experience get translated into a lived experience? While the study has both qualitative and quantitative
components, this article is based on selected data that provides information on how Indo-Fijians make
monetary investments to enable them to consume Bollywood movies.
The intent here is to illustrate that Bollywood’s emotional hold extends beyond the new diaspora that
is situated at the epicentre of consumer culture in the West. Although most studies on the reception of
Bollywood are conducted either in more advanced countries or within India, many PIOs belonging to the
‘old diaspora’ are never featured in the Bollywood films. Bollywood movies with diaspora themes are
often set in developed countries like the US, UK and Australia. Developing countries like Fiji that are
home for old Indian diaspora hardly feature in Bollywood movies, except may be as a backdrop for a
song-and-dance sequence. On the occasions when countries where the old diaspora resides do feature in
Bollywood movies, they are used for their exotic locale and never mentioned by name.2
At this point it is important to identify how ‘Bollywood’ is defined in this article. Although critiques
of Bollywood focus on the genre that is glossy, family centered films, relying on romantic story lines
(Juluri 1999; Kapur 2009; Rajadyaksha 2008), which emerged in the 1990s and became cultural icons of
globalization of India, this article applies the term to the collective Hindi cinema. Nevertheless, due to
their availability and recency, the family centered movies produced with extravagant sets and costumes
remain the most popular.
The Indo-Fijians: An Old Diaspora
Despite the use of the common noun ‘Indian’ to identify those who emigrated from India, the Indian
diaspora is not a homogenous entity. Experiences of a diasporic community are influenced by reasons for
migration and its place in the host society. Indian diasporas, as varied as India herself, were formed under
and influenced by such diverse conditions that they have been divided into old and new diaspora (Bhat
& Bhaskar 2007; Cohen 1997). Also classified as labour and imperial diaspora, the old diaspora includes
third to fifth generation of emigrants from India, who moved in the mid-nineteenth century to British
colonies as plantation and railway workers under the indenture system. In comparison, the new diaspora
consists of professionally skilled emigrants, often well versed in the English language, to the western
countries since the mid-twentieth century (Bhat & Bhaskar 2007). The two diaspora are not just different
in the socio-economic circumstances under which they migrated from India, but also their place in the
host societies (ibid.). It was poverty that made emigration enticing to the old diaspora, who were mostly
uneducated, landless peasants from lower castes. For the new diaspora it was an opportune marriage
between aspiring educated middle class, often from upper castes, and the emerging employment
opportunities in the western world (ibid.). While the new diaspora is economically secure in their host
countries, many in the old diaspora still struggle to receive ‘native status’.
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Girmit: The Creation of Indian Diaspora in Fiji
Girmit, a word derived from ‘agreement’, is the term applied to the set of agreements under which the
indentured labourers had been contracted to come to Fiji (Fiji Ministry of Information 1979; Lal 2000,
2004; Girmit 1979; Lal et al. 2007). Until 1979, when the word Girmit was re-introduced into Fiji-Hindi
vocabulary at the commemoration of hundred years of Indo-Fijian diaspora, the word was synonymous
with shame (Lal 2004). Between 1879 and 1916 around 60,000 Indians were brought under the indentured
system to work on sugar plantations. Approximately 25,000 returned to India. The remaining stayed in
Fiji, either because they could not save enough money for a return fare, and/or because they, having
broken the initial shackles of the caste system which limited the possibilities of owning land, did not
wish to return (Ramesh 2004).
However, the Indian diaspora in Fiji can itself be divided into old (the labour diaspora) and new
(business and professional diaspora). Three decades after the Girmityas arrived in Fiji, Indians from
more privileged strata of society began migrating to the country. This second wave of migration was
mostly voluntary and constituted of people from the business class and skilled professionals. Since the
independence of Fiji in 1970, universities and organizations in Fiji have employed many Indians. In
addition, there is also a small number of population even today that migrates to Fiji through matrimony,
which indicates the continuing prevalence of arranged marriages.
Unique Characteristics of Indo-Fijian Diaspora
Often called little India, any analysis of contemporary Fiji is incomplete without considering the
contribution of Indo-Fijians. Despite continuous emigration in the last two decades, Indo-Fijians
constitute nearly 38 per cent of the Fiji population. Now more than 130 years old, the Indo-Fijians
brought from various parts of India have created a culture that is specific to Fiji. Indo-Fijian cuisine is a
combination of varied Indian and Fijian cuisines. Today, Fiji-Hindi is considered a language with a
developed grammar, rather than a broken version of Hindi.
The old diaspora, due to sporadic contact with India has lost identification with caste. Indo-Fijians
who are not uniformly economically secure like their western counterparts, cannot afford frequent trips
to India. The few who do visit India, usually arrive as outsiders—exchange students, business partners
and/or as tourists, with no filial links—even though these tourists return to India to find a piece of
themselves in their fragmented self as a diaspora.3
Where the new diaspora is increasingly assimilating culturally into the host countries’ culture, and is
more accepting of nuclear families and inter-racial marriages, the Indo-Fijian lifestyle has maintained a
rural Indian quality—for example, prevalence of joint families, a significant place of religion in
determining daily behaviour and arranged marriages.
Political Unrest and Ethnic Distrust
Since its independence from the British in 1970, Fiji has suffered four coups; three of which were
attributed to the dissatisfaction over a perceived Indian-dominated government. After the second coup in
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September 1987, Fiji was declared a Republic and severed ties with the British monarchy (Rutz 1997).
Indo-Fijians fearing future onslaughts against them started to emigrate to more prosperous countries that
promised equal rights, such as Canada, Australia, NZ and USA. Although heavy emigration of Indo-
Fijians resulted in economic losses, it assured Melanesian majority (Ramesh 2004).
In fact, ‘Indo-Fijian’, a term applied to the Indians living in Fiji, was coined to distinguish their
identities from the native Melanesians, otherwise called Fijians. The last coup is supposedly driven not
by eliminating or disregarding Indo-Fijians’ presence in policy-making, but by a movement towards
bestowing the title of Fijian on the Indo-Fijians. In this article, the term Indo-Fijian is applied to those
who have lived in Fiji for over three generations.
The Diaspora in Bollywood Films
The ‘imagined India’ in Fiji is constructed and reinforced by India’s cultural products, both media and
non-media related. Media products, especially Bollywood, are considered carriers of images and the
conduit of emotions that connect individuals or a community to an imagined/constructed land/nation.
Diaspora, usually surrounded by a politics of separation, feel a nostalgic pull towards the homeland that
is an image of security and a push away from host-land that can feel unwelcoming (Cohen 1997, 2008).
‘Remembrance and commemoration’, combined with ‘a strong sense of the dangers involved in forgetting
the location of origin and the process of dispersal’ (Gilroy 1997, as cited in Barker 2003, p. 69) play a
significant role in forging identities, that though invariably new and different, consider themselves a
reflection of the original.
Known the world over for their formula films called ‘masala movies’, Bollywood rarely strays from
girl-meets-boy plots. Most movies revolve around romance and involve related family tussles. Although
several movies addressed issues of the diaspora in the 60s and 70s (such as Purab aur Paschim, Hare
Rama Hare Krishna), there has been a significant change in the representation of the diaspora since the
late 1990s. Contrary to their predecessors of the 60s where the ‘foreign returned Indians’ were considered
unfit for the culture of the motherland, these movies, made post-liberalization of Indian economic
policies, hail the diaspora as model Indians. The lead characters of several Bollywood movies not only
reside outside India and yet display ‘Indian characteristics’, but also juggle the two worlds without any
internal conflict. Today’s protagonists, unlike the socialism-inspired protagonists of the post-Independent
movies that lasted until the late 1970s, mirror our advertising-driven world, by prioritizing with their
personal and romantic lives. Neither do they feel a separation from the motherland, or face an overt
discrimination from the people in their adopted lands, except in the case of movies that explicitly deal
with prejudice and racism (such as My name is Khan, 2010). As actors spout unaccented Hindi and
English with an Indian accent, the representation of Indian diaspora in Bollywood has now merged with
the ‘pan-Indian identity’. At heart, and in their values, the diaspora are Indian.
However, old diaspora is just as absent from Bollywood themes as is rural India, both of which are
neither considered economically secure nor potential markets. Yet both rural Indians and the old Indian
diaspora consume Bollywood, unlike their western counterparts, not merely as a supplement to other
media, but as a mainstay of their media and cultural diet. Although Bollywood stories do not reflect their
concerns, Fiji Indians are drawn to bollywood with a hope of finding their own self in the characters. The
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viewers do not look at Bollywood as trans-national media, but a guide that may inform their emotional
experience as an Indian. At this juncture it is important to highlight the integral role that Bollywood plays
in extending India’s emotional (soft) power to a population that is economically and politically separate
from India. The diaspora tries to locate itself in that trans-national media that disguises itself as home
culture, but is more akin to the generic global.
To add to the uneven equation, Indo-Fijians are hardly represented in the Indian media they consume.
I argue that this defining feature sets the Indo-Fijians apart from their peers in the developed world. This
calls for a more in-depth look at the reasons and ways of consumption of mediated images of India and
the emotional link that is formed with a nation most of them have never visited. However, this Indo-
Fijian identity is crystallized by identifying themselves as Indians living in Fiji and is sustained by media
images, both local and trans-national.
TV and Bollywood in Fiji
Television is a new addition to Fiji media. About two decades old, the free to air channel ‘Fiji One’ has
been making efforts to produce a healthy mix of programmes in English, Fijian and Hindi.4 Although
most entertainment programmes are imported from the US, New Zealand and Australia, there are some
locally produced educational programmes. For example, Voqa Ni Davui (Fijian) and Sitara (Hindi) are
both produced and managed by the Ministry of Information to offer in-depth analysis of government
initiatives and highlight rural development initiatives. English language programmes such as Pacific
Way and Have your Say are also being aired for public service.
Some programmes have been created featuring a local anchor who presents foreign-produced content
such as the children’s show Get Set that includes the screening of entertainment and educational
programmes Histeria!, Sesame Street, Pepper Ann and the Gummi Bears. The music show Grove Thang
(formerly Coca-Cola Power Jammer) claims to include Fijian, Hindi and ‘Island’ music, but mainly
replays music videos from MTV and VH1. It ranks in the top ten most watched programmes.
At the time of data collection, not a single programme on Fiji One could be described as a home-
grown entertainment programme that features Fijian and Indo-Fijian characters depicting life on the Fiji
Islands. However, in a personal interview, the former CEO of Fiji One, Ken Clark stated that there was
a plan to train artists from the Pacific to create entertainment programmes targeted towards peoples of
the Pacific (15 April 2009).
Although Bollywood movies constitute a small portion of programming on Fiji One, several Hindi
programmes include sections that feature Bollywood. For example, Jharokha, a variety programme that
highlights upcoming Bollywood movies; and the recently launched Music Masti presents hit songs from
Bollywood movies. A second channel, MaiTV started broadcasting in 2008 and features locally produced
programmes such as news and talk shows and features Bollywood movies. Apart from the two free to air
channels, Hindi channels are offered as paid cable packages with programmes produced exclusively in
India in the Hindi language (see Appendix II).
Although circulation of Indian print media is limited, Bollywood-inspired magazines Filmfare and
Stardust are available in select stores and Bollywood stars are a regular in the weekly newspaper, Kaila,
that caters to young readers.
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Bollywood, Regurgitated, Re-created and Reinforced
The desire for entertainment programming that provides images for a cultural and social identification
for Indo-Fijians is answered by paid channels that offer cultural connectivity. Bollywood’s immersion
into Fijian media is not limited to radio, television and newspaper. Bollywood stars’ world tours, where
the stars perform live to the songs from their movies, often include a brief stopover in the island country.
These shows can draw large crowds of people who do not mind spending money and time to get a
glimpse of the celebrities. After-show recordings are made available at affordable prices to those who
want to re-live the shows in their homes.
The impact of these shows lingers long after the actual performance. Many local programmes are said
to have been influenced by the shows and have propelled local performers, who dance and sing to
Bollywood music, to fame. Youth bands that perform at student parties have also adopted Bollywood
music in their repertoire.5
Bollywood movies also enjoy screen time in all five theatres in the country as much as Hollywood
movies. Pirated copies of the movies sell for FJ$ 2 (approx. US$1) or less apiece, while original copies
sell for FJ$10 (approx. US$5).
Bollywood also dominates the airwaves, where some radio stations devote five minutes of airtime to
new Bollywood releases and gossip, and play movie songs throughout the day. There is hardly an escape
from the sights and sounds of Bollywood in Fiji even on the streets, where many cab drivers adorn their
cars with pictures of film stars as t hey listen to Hindi music.
Shopping areas in the larger towns of Suva, Nadi and Lautoka are reminiscent of India. Many shops
display bright coloured Indian clothing and jewellery. Often posters of Indian film stars grace the display
windows, as songs from Hindi movies blare above the sound of traffic.
Theoretical Background: Nation Beyond its Boundaries
In a 2004 essay, Wiley suggested a new approach to study a nation’s reach in the context of globalization.
Availability and accessibility of trans-national media, both digital and mobile, raises new issues that
challenge our notions of nationality (p. 78). Despite the claims that new technologies render nation states
powerless (Waisbord & Morris 2001), nationality and sometimes sub-nationality remains the governing
logic behind domestic and foreign policies. In the case of Fiji, it is a multiethnic nation, and several
domestic policies are ethnically based. A country where inter-racial marriages and intermingling of races
has continued for centuries, race is both difficult to define and an unstable measure to rely on. However,
given the uncertain status of nationality in the present context of globalization, communication theory
needs a conceptual space within which identification with more than one nation, whether culturally or
politically (ideologically) must be taken into consideration.
Wiley (2004) groups various theories that deal with nationalism into five categories, based on the role
nationality plays in their conceptualization. Here Fiji is viewed in the context of three of those theories:
globalization or nation de-stabilized, contextualist and critical nation-based theory.
Critical nation-based theory considers nation as a historical context, where hegemonic forces
forged people of varied backgrounds into one nation. For example, India existed as hundred of small
kingdoms that housed numerous cultures and thousands of languages, before it was united under
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the British. Fiji on the other hand is a nation where immigrants were brought by the British, or
migrated willingly from closer island nations. An understanding of Fiji and its contemporary culture is
incomplete if we overlook the impact of colonization and resulting policies that affected the nation’s
fate; in this case bringing in the indentured labourers against their will and placing them against the
Melanesians.
Globalization or nation de-stablized theory argues that territorially defined national spaces do not
serve the dynamics of new formations from migration. Diaspora often brings its cultural symbols which
eventually get assimilated into the new lands. Cultural hybridity (resulting consumption of trans-national
media, immigration, travel) creates new cultural practices and forms of belonging. Or, people living in
small hometowns in remote lands may absorb more from global media than from local media, since the
former is more readily available, as in the case of Fiji.
Furthermore, novel ways of identification are created due to movement of peoples, as geographical
space both of the homeland and the host-land, is translated into Anderson’s ‘imagined community’
(Anderson 2006). or better yet, Appadurai’s ‘imagined worlds’ (1996), that do not always coincide with
realityThough the land left behind may be subjected to the same global forces that caused migration, it
remains unaltered in the minds of the diaspora. On the other hand, the receiving nation, where the
diaspora settles for short or long period, is reticent in acknowledging the gradual transformation that
occurs in identification of the new migrants, even though the ‘new geographies’ make possible ‘new
forms of regional and local activity’ (Wiley 2004, p. 88). Imagined India for Indo-Fijians might be
brighter than the movies themselves, since each image is coloured with emotion and mounted on
nostalgia. In this imagined India, represented by Bollywood, the Indo-Fijians seek to find a thread of
continuity to their past.
Contextualist theory asks, how are the borders of a nation shaped, disrupted and recreated? The
nation, according to this approach, is a place within the overlapping ‘geography’ where local, global and
regional meet, creating both conflict and resonance. That ‘place’ is often just as informed by memories
and nostalgia as it is by policies. For the diaspora, nostalgia plays a more intense role, and may insist on
recreating the land left behind. This is especially true for Indo-Fijians who have a traumatic link with
their history, of not only being brought against their will but also being constantly reminded of their
immigrant status in a land they have laboured on for four generations. The landscape of that national and
cultural space, which is created by the void of being uprooted is fed by mediated images.
Wiley suggests that rethinking the nation-state beyond ‘discrete space’ (2004, p. 88) as proposed by a
contextualist viewpoint, considers the nation as conflation of various globalization forces, and opens
new questions to ponder, such as: How are nationally defined identities weakened, reinforced, or
transformed? (ibid., p. 93).
While both political and social bonds in democratic nations are at a threat today (Castles & Davidson
2000) the diaspora, coveting images of the homeland, seems to provide a new equation in the idea of
nation-state. Despite not conforming to the traditional definition of transmigrants, ‘as those who live
their lives across borders’ (Basch, Glick Schiller, & Blanc 2000), ‘the diaspora do find themselves
straddling the nation building process of two or more nation states’, in that they may embody an
accentuated level of ‘multiple layered identity, and interests’ as described by Straubhaar (2001) and
therefore seek cultural programming that reflects their ‘imagined worlds’. Juluri (1999), taking the
example of highly successful family drama, Hum Apke Hain Kaun, suggests that in a country like India,
the family becomes a fertile ground for globalization forces. While at one end large joint families that
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portray multilayered family relations are hailed in Bollywood films, these are also the families that
consume global products at an unprecedented rate. However, for the diaspora, these large-scale, glitzy
Bollywood films become a piece of home that is consumed uncritically and enacted out by modelling
after the film stars’ dress sense. This article attempts to establish a connection between the emotional
link to Bollywood as evident in investing in playback systems and subscriptions to paid channels
featuring Bollywood and other media products from India.
The following research questions were established to examine practices and attitudes that may reflect
Bollywood’s consumption among the Indo-Fijians:
RQ1: How does old diaspora access, consume Bollywood products? (playback system, cable, and
so on)
RQ2: How does Bollywood compare in preference to other competing entertainment media, namely
Hollywood and television serials from India?
RQ3: How does interaction with Bollywood content translate into lived experience for Indo-Fijians?
(For instance, a desire to consume/purchase apparel featured in these movies)
Methodology, Sampling and Data Collection
A diaspora perspective to study the role of trans-national media is important because it acknowledges the
ways in which identities have been and continue to be transformed through re-location, cross-cultural
exchange and interaction. The dispersed populations seek as much as they are sought, through
communications technologies by trans-national media (Gillespie 2003). These processes dissolve
distances and suspend time, and in doing so create new and unpredictable forms of connection,
identification and cultural affinity, but also of dislocation and disjuncture between people, places and
cultures (Giddens 1990). Thus the new social and cultural conditions of trans-nationalism require a
rethinking of conceptual and methodological tools.
An ethnographic approach is in my view, essential to tracking complex trans-national connections, in
order to assess the rapidly changing and augmented economic, political and socio-cultural significance
of trans-national communities. While studying diaspora forces us to reconsider the notions of nation and
nationalism and nation-citizen relationships, (Braziel & Mannur 2003), each diaspora has its unique
features. For example, the Indian diaspora is unique because of its access to tremendous amounts of
media products from India. Here Bollywood movies and music, which are increasingly commercial
(Tyrrell 2007) and form a sizable portion of the media consumption for Indo-Fijians, are considered a
hegemonic force that disguises itself as an emotional link. Thus Indo-Fijian diaspora allows us to study
the impact of trans-national media that are non-western, and yet direct the audiences towards a
homogenization of cultural life.
Ethnography was a central aspect in the conception, data collection and analysis of this study.
Ethnography, which is often used interchangeably with participant observation is both a method and
a result, a ‘process and a product’ (Agar 1996, p. 53). The process of conducting research begins in a
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cultural setting, and the end product provides the readers with new insights into the culture under
examination.
Participant observation, in this case, is on multiple levels. For example, being an Indian rendered the
researcher an insider; but not being an Indo-Fijian and a fluency with Bollywood Hindi rather than Fiji-
Hindi made the researcher an ‘other’, but not essentially an outsider. This unique combination allowed
the participants to share their opinions, without the pressure of having to conform or the fear of sharing
unconventional ideas. Both research assistants were from Fiji and fluent in Fiji-Hindi. All the participants
involved were informed about the research and the possible use of data. Many of the participants were
personally known to the researcher either directly or through common friends, which facilitated the
interviewing process.
Due to low penetration of landlines in the country, using telephone directory or other official records
was not a reliable method. Therefore, our purposive sample that constituted only of Indo-Fijians living
in Fiji,6 was created through snowball sampling. An amended version of the questionnaire from a pilot
study conducted in 2007 was used to gather data in 2008.
An effort was made to include various socio-economic groups, different religions and all categories
of age groups considered. However, it serves the purpose of this study best that the maximum number of
respondents fall in the age range of 18 to 45 years. To ensure consistency, all the questionnaires were
administered by the researcher or the research assistants.
Data Collection
Research assistants were briefed on the procedures and provided with responses and solutions to possible
follow up questions from the participants. The primary researcher and two research assistants who were
trained for the purposes administered all the surveys. All interviews were conducted after administering
the questionnaire. Three open-ended questions, related to identity and Bollywood were added towards
the end of the questionnaire to allow the participants to add descriptive information. A coding sheet was
created to facilitate data entry. Several interviews were conducted with entire families or in a group
interviews/focus groups, because watching Bollywood still remains a family affair. While the data was
collected over a period of about six months, mostly in 2008, the analysis of the data is informed by my
stay in Fiji. Most of the interviews and surveys were conducted at the residences of the participants.
Some participants in Savu Savu and Lobasa were interviewed at a temple where people had gathered for
a ceremony. One special focus group interview with University students was conducted at the Media
Centre at the University of South Pacific, in September of 2008. While that particular focus group
interview is not included in this article, questionnaires are, to get a substantial data.
A total of 117 questionnaires were administered. All data was first marked on the survey, with the help
of the primary researcher and two research assistants. The data was then coded and entered by research
assistants. Interviews were conducted at the residences of at least one of the people interviewed. The
primary researcher was present at all the interviews.
The data was collected in nine towns on three islands of Fiji, to include populations from different
levels of exposure to global media and varied income levels. This approach would allow us to compare
the difference, if any, in the way consumers are willing to invest monetarily to access trans-national
media as experienced by rural and urban populations (see Table 1).
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Validity and Reliability
An ethnographic study is usually high on validity and low on reliability. While the study is carried out
on the respective population, the possibility that the population will interact with media products in the
same way in years to come is highly unlikely. Considering the amount of data and the limit on the length
of the study, only the questions pertinent to the research questions mentioned earlier are analyzed here.
Findings
As mentioned already, the uniqueness of the Indian diaspora in Fiji lies in its size, length of separation
from India and strategic location. Even though Indo-Fijians do not have as much dispensable wealth as
their richer counterparts in the developed world, the following graphs indicate the place that media from
India has made in their everyday lives.
Own/Access to Playback System and Satellite Programming (RQ1)
An overwhelming majority owns or has access to a playback system (Figure 1). In Fiji, access to
Bollywood is more through home screenings rather than theatre screenings. The five theatres in the
country are not easily accessible, except for residents in the urban areas.
That there was a higher concentration of playback systems in rural and semi-urban homes is not
surprising. Owing to lack of any domestic programming that can be classified as typically Indian or
Fijian, the viewers are attracted to stories that not only feature actors with faces that resemble their own,
but also speak their language. In addition to having better access to the city theatres and forms of
entertainment other than cinema, the urban residents’ mobility allows them a variety of leisure activities.
For the rural population, the desire for programming that provides images for cultural and social
identification is filled by paid channels that offer a cultural connectivity.
The same trend is reflected in our charts that illustrate the subscription to paid channels that provide
Hindi programming from India.
Access to Sky Pacific (RQ1)
SkyPacific, one of the paid channels included in the packages offered by Fiji One, broadcasts mainly
Indian programming, including Bollywood movies (see Figures 2 and 3). When asked the reason for
Table 1. Data was Collected in the Following Towns and Islands,
Identified as Rural, semi-Urban and Urban.
Island Urban Semi-urban Rural
Viti Levu Suva Nasouri Navua
Nadi Ba
Lautoka
Vanua Levu Lobasa
Savu-Savu
Taveuni Taveuni
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










4WTCN 7TDCP
2NC[DCEMU[U
0Q2NC[DCEMU[U
5GOKWTDCP
Figure 1. Ownership of Playback Systems.
Sky Pacific Y
Sky Pacific N
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Su
Nadi
Nasauri
Navua
Lobasa
Savu Savu
Taveuni
Ba
Figure 2. Subscription to Sky Pacific, the Paid Channels, by Towns.
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114 Charu Uppal
Journal of Creative Communications, 6, 1&2 (2011): 103–121
watching Indian programming that does not ever mention Indo-Fijians, many respondents pointed to the
‘values and culture’7 of India that resonated with them. This connection was reiterated across gender, age
group and religion, regardless of the educational background, even as most stated watching Indian
movies merely for ‘time pass’.
In the absence of any home programming that is both Fijian and entertaining, Bollywood fills a void
as the missing link. The impact of this programming takes on a completely new meaning when understood
in the context of Fiji’s limited range in broadcasting. The island of Tavueni is powered by a generator
that makes electricity available between 10 pm and 6 am, mostly in areas that attract tourists. SkyPacific
is brought in by personal DishTV satellites and is the most watched channel in the paid package. The
popularity of the shows can also be attributed to the lack of access to non-Indian programming on remote
islands like Taveuni. Yet, during our research visits to Taveuni we found many homes with a DishTV,
which requires high investment. Often we found DVD players next to the straw mats that every home in
Fiji must have, as a reminder of the importance placed on access to media.
Programme Preference (RQ2)
While many respondents stated watching more Indian television serials than Bollywood, the following
graph clearly shows the popularity of the programmes across age groups (Figure 4).
Fiji has had access to Indian media almost since the same time as Indians, although with much less
frequency until the 1990s. Figure 4 points to the fact that Indian TV serials and Bollywood movies are








4WTCN 5GOKWTDCP
5M[2CEKHKE;
5M[2CEKHKE0
7TDCP
Figure 3. Access to Sky Pacific, the Paid Channel that Continuously Broadcasts Hindi Programming
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Dispensing Nostalgia for a Price 115
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preferred over Hollywood and other trans-national media used for entertainment purposes, except for
those between 18–25 years of age, where both Hollywood and Bollywood movies are enjoyed in equal
capacity. Although this may be interpreted as indicating a hybrid identity, since most respondents related
watching Bollywood with some nostalgia and/or feeling a cultural kinship with it, Hollywood will
always have to compete for attention.
It is worth noting that Hollywood viewing is completely absent in the age group of 35 years and
above, indicating its recent emergence as an option. Furthermore, while Hollywood is usually accessed
only through movies, Bollywood today is intertwined with viewing television shows from India, many
of which use Bollywood content as a linchpin such as dance shows, Antakshari,8 talent shows, and so on.
Even shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)9 use Bollywood stars as anchors. In addition,
Bollywood’s comprehensiveness, which encompasses music, apparel and other accessories allows for an
absolute immersion through consumption.
The following section illustrates how immersion in and the attachment to Bollywood is reflected in
preference for apparel modelled in the movies. Most of those interviewed between the ages of 18–25
affirmed the influence of Bollywood in their choice of dressing styles.
How Much Does Bollywood Guide You in the Way You Dress? (RQ3)
Figure 5 is a strong indicator that predicts the potential of an ongoing demand in Bollywood related
goods. With Indian stars dressing increasingly in western outfits, these youngsters will not have to turn
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
18–25 26–35 36–45 46–55 56–64
B
ITV
HW
BHW
Figure 4. Prefer Watching Bollywood Movie, or Indian TV serial, Hollywood Movie or like both Bollywood and
Hollywood Equally.
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to Hollywood for ‘learning about fashion, new ways of dressing, and hairstyle’, as shared by many
young respondents.
As expected those in the 18–25 years age group are more influenced by bollywood’s lure. The young
are not only loyal viewers but in their desire to emulate their favourite stars, are also devoted consumers.
Bollywood, unlike any other trans-national media, has both a diffused and a niche market. The niche
market extends beyond India, to wherever the Indian diaspora lives. While the movies and music may
be consumed collectively, owning clothes and accessories allows a comprehensive Bollywood experience,
similar to Disney-themed parties.10
Participant Observation as Ethnography
Although my experience as a person of diaspora began nearly two decades ago when I left India, my
interest in this project, unbeknownst to me, began when I boarded the plane from LA to Nadi, Fiji for my
new job as Lecturer of Journalism at the University of South Pacific. Many people aboard identified
themselves as Fiji-Indians, although I found little in them that reminded me of India, except maybe the
long braids that the older women donned. Women wore long gowns, very much like the ones reserved
for indoor-wear by women in India, and added a scarf, usually worn as an accompaniment to the North
Indian outfit of Salwar-Kameez. The outfit itself, to me, was some combination of an Indianness to
remain modestly dressed and Fijian laid-back style of convenience. In addition, they spoke a dialect of
Hindi that I could not comprehend. It hurt my ego to not be able to relate to this aspect of India, especially
since Fiji was affectionately called ‘little India’. An editor of a leading magazine in Fiji once stated that
Not much
Somewhat
Very much
25
20
15
10
5
0
18–25 26–35 36–45 46–55 56+
Figure 5.
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Indo-Fijians had created their ‘own’ culture far away from India. I only partially agree with the statement.
Fiji-Indian culture, though quite unique to Fiji, is sustained through music and cultural activities that are
frequently informed and altered by media from India.
For over a decade my consumption of Bollywood films was almost non-existent, except for the
movies that made it to foreign film festivals or were nominated for the Oscars. Indian movies, to my
disappointment, reflected nothing of my life in India. Most movie actors, due to make up and increasingly
western ways of dressing, looked alike. India itself, sometimes, felt as foreign as the US had years ago.
It was intriguing then, that fourth or fifth generation Fiji-Indians put just as much time in keeping abreast
of Bollywood gossip on the net, as they did of Hollywood. Their knowledge of the Filmfare awards was
at par with that of Oscars and Grammies. Much of their socialization time was spent watching,
re-watching, discussing and searching for new information about Bollywood stars. Indo-Fijians, through
their passion and love for the Hindi film industry, re-informed me of the role the complex imagery of
sounds and sights spun by Hindi movies plays for its audience. I recognized then, that I had arrived in
Bollystan, a borderless state of being that is spun by images created by the Hindi film industry.
Discussion: Bollystan Invites the Diaspora
Fiji is a developing country, beset by coups and ethnic strife. Known for its growing poverty, an average
Fijian lives on less than two Dollars a day. And yet, many Fijians acknowledged having invested in a
playback system and a subscription to expensive cable channel for their love of Indian media products,
which presently includes both Bollywood and Indian TV shows.
When asked what binds them to Bollywood, many stated that ‘it connected them to India’. Furthermore,
most people including those between 18–25 stated that they had a special affinity for Bollywood. While
the older generation watched it for nostalgia, the younger generation stated, both ‘culture and fashion’ as
reasons for viewing. The inter-generational affinity for Bollywood manifests in a daily lived experience
that includes Indian media products and ensures that coming generations will be exposed to Bollywood
at home, securing its future popularity.
India’s rise in the world economy is making the diaspora, especially the old diaspora, assert and take
pride in its identity. Spurred by a combination of liberalization of Indian economy and advancement in
technology, the Bollywood experience has become almost immediate, and is not restricted only to the
urban areas. There is no year-long wait for VHS, and movies are available in pirated versions even before
they are released (Starosielski 2010). Even the movies that did not make it to the film theatres are now
available either on DVDs, providing Indo-Fijians a direct and continuous connection to the culture and
products of the ‘homeland’. Parag Khanna (2004) rightly labels Bollywood’s world of images, sounds
and memories, with culture at its centre, Bollystan. Bollystan is a state of being, but one that cannot be
sustained without acquiring goods that support it—namely a DVD player, DishTV, a subscription to paid
channels and apparel.
Conclusion: The Lure of Bollystan
Nearly all those who responded to the survey stated that they were Indians living in Fiji, and those
interviewed stated feeling a strong kinship with Indian culture. However, the love of the motherland is
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transferred to Fiji; there is no conflict in acknowledging love for Fiji and an identification with Indian
culture, which instead of being a threat to national cohesiveness is a mark of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial
nation. It is this connection with Indian culture that allows a PIO to feel a kinship with others who share
the same cultural heritage, of which in modern times, Bollywood is an integral part.
Bollywood’s power to homogenize and sustain Hindi, as lauded by the Cultural Minister of India, is
reflected in statements of the respondents, such as:
we watch these movies to learn the language, [things] about religion, how to pray, results of prayer and Indian
heritage. The movies focus on universal emotions that every one can relate to such as difference between rich
and poor, jealousies and love.
Like the variety of theories used to describe, understand and explain its existence, survival,
maintenance and an ongoing expansion, diaspora is self reflexive, it recognizes its incompleteness and
chooses media to define itself, not only as a diaspora but in communion with all those who watch
Bollywood movies, expound the same value, have similar skin colour, speak the same language, celebrate
the same festivals and maybe wear the same clothes.
The sites and practices that constitute national space are not always driven by exclusively national
logics and an association with culture and values does not require citizenship. Bollystan as experienced
through trans-national images and sounds spun by Bollywood pushes the boundaries of India’s influ-
ence well beyond India, beckoning investors and tourists alike. It furnishes concrete images, neatly
packaged in stories that revolve around families, even placing the diaspora itself at the centre, inviting
Indians spread around the globe, regardless of their economic status, to enjoy its glory. This Indianness
of Bollywood is polycentric and connects Indo-Fijians with Indians living in San Francisco and
Auckland. One’s identity in Bollystan, similar to a national identity, is continually reproduced through
discursive action, which includes both consumption of goods and enactment of the ritual of watching the
movies.
Bollystan is a borderless world that connects PIO outside of India, and invites all those who are
attracted by its brightness and melodies, usually for a price.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the University of South Pacic for supporting this research. Thanks are also due
to Shazia Usman and Riteshini Singh for data collection and data entry, and Mohammed Sameer for translating
and transcribing the interviews from Fiji-Hindi to English. A special thanks goes to all the families who invited
us to their homes, gave us their invaluable time and showed us the same hospitality they said they would to
Bollywood stars.
Appendix I
Following are some of the questions that were used to initiate a conversation with the participants:
• How would you define yourself or your culture?
• How often do you watch Indian movies?
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• Why do you watch Indian movies?
• What do you learn about India from Bollywood movies?
• Do Indian movies mirror your life?
Appendix II
Following are the listings of Indian produced programming on Sky Plus for Week 38, 2010:
Sky Plus: Week 38 Saturday 11/09/2010 (September 9, 2010)
- Matinee Movie: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
- Men Maange More - Episode 68
- Star Superhit: Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai (Star)
- Music Video India’s Magic Star - Episode 10
- Mirch Masala - Episode 334
- Sampoorna Ramayan - Episode 80
- Mahabharat - Episode 80
Notes
1. Data collection revealed that Indian soap operas, game shows, mythologicals, music shows, and sit-coms
secured a sizable TV watching time in Indo-Fijians. However, this article focuses mainly on Bollywood.
2. Many dreams sequences in Bollywood movies are ambiguous about the location. Often only the developed
countries, where the new diaspora reside are mentioned by name.
3. Several interviewees stated that the main reason for their interest and visits to India was to see the ‘land where
their forefathers came from.’
4. The language spoken by Indo-Fijians. Majority of movies made by Bollywood are in Hindi. It is important to
note that Fiji-Hindi, spoken by Indo-Fijians, is unique to Fiji. Fiji-Hindi is a combination of various languages
represented by Indian indentured labourers.
5. Based on personal observation from having stayed in the country for three years.
6. Even though Fijians also watch Bollywood movies, they were not included in the data.
7. See Appendix I.
8. A popular game based on songs (usually Bollywood songs) where each contestant sings the first verse of a
movie song that begins with the consonant (hindi/urdu) to which the previous song ended.
9. Indian version of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’.
10. See Pine II, & Gilmore (2011), The experience economy, Harvard Business Press.
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Charu Uppal is Assistant Professor at Karlstad University, Sweden. She obtained her PhD in Media
Studies from Pennsylvania State University in 2003. She has taught at Indiana University in Bloomington,
Clarion University in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University and at the University of South Pacific
in Fiji. Her research interests include the representation and formation of cultural identity in the
developing world in the global era and the role of media and technology in mobilizing citizens towards
political and cultural activism. E-mail: Charu.Uppal@kau.se
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