Situating Hong Kong and Bollywood Cinemas in the Global

Abstract

This introductory chapter explains how Hong Kong and Bollywood film industries have repositioned themselves as new players in the pantheon of global cinema. It focuses on the force of globalization that has driven local filmmakers to make films for nontraditional audiences; to engage moral, political, and socioeconomic controversies in their works; and to gain legitimacy from and negotiate with the various state authorities. It poses the question of what is gained and lost in the flow of cinematic styles, meanings, practices, and norms among Hong Kong, Bollywood, and global cinema. Balancing the cross-cultural analysis of Hong Kong and Bollywood’s appeals at home and abroad, it offers a new inter-Asian framework for understanding these two highly globalized Asian film industries.