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We Are Like This Only: Desis and Hindi Films in the Diaspora by Aswin Punathambekar B.E. Mechanical Engineering University of Allahabad, 1999 M.A. Journalism & Mass Communication University of Georgia, 2001 SUBMITTED TO THE PROGRAM IN COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES AT THE MASSACHUSETTES INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2003 © 2003 Aswin Punathambekar. All Rights Reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or part. Signature of Author: - C;l I r Program in Comparative Media Studies August 25, 2003 Certified by: "- A /Michaei-M. J. Fischer Professor, Science, Technology and Society Thesis Supervisor Accepted by: William Uricchio Professor and Acting Director, Comparative Media Studies MASSACHUSEITS INSTITUTE OFTECHNOLOGY ARCHIVES OCT 0 7 2003 LIBRARIES I:! P- Table of Contents Abstract ................................. o o ....... .. °...... ........... .... ° 3 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction 5 Chapter I Globalization and Media ........................................ 10 I.1 De-territorialisation ....................................... 11 1.2 Media Meet Migrants ................ .................. 14 1.3 Mining Media for Culture in the Diaspora.............. 16 1.4 Desis and Hindi Films in the Diaspora ................ 19 1.5 It Ain't Just Nostalgia .................................... 27 Chapter II Beginning to Arrive: Research Design and Method........... 32 II. I Ethnography and Audience Studies ........................ 33 11.2 Participants and Interviews................................ 37 11.3 Value in Quasi-Ethnography?......... ................ 39 Interlude Reading/W riting................................... 42 Chapter III Bollywood: From the Backyard to the Bazaar ................ 45 III. 1 The Early Years............................. 47 111.2 The Shady Years............................. 50 11.3 Here and Now...................... .............. .. 54 Chapter IV Masalas and More................. ................... 58 IV.I Cultural Residence................. .............. 60 IV.2 Life in the Hyphen ........................................ ... 70 Chapter V Hold On, Let Go ................................................ 81 Conclusion ....................................................... .................. 9 2 Bibliography ............................. ........................................... 96 Abstract We Are Like This Only: Desis and Hindi Films in the Diaspora Set in Boston, U.S.A, the overarching goal of this thesis is to develop a theoretical framework and a set of analytical tools that might help us understand how Hindi films are watched in the Indian- American diaspora and what viewers, situated in particular historical, socio-political contexts, bring to bear upon their engagement with these films. In spite of the sheer number of Hindi films released each year (150-200) and the increasing importance of audiences in countries such as the U.S., we know little, if anything, about audience motivations, viewing practices and consumption patterns. Suggesting we take the familiar seriously, this project's primary goal is to serve as an inaugural act that will map key coordinates of the space that Hindi cinema and its transnational audience occupies. This research project is designed to examine viewing practices and interpretations of Hindi films among a small sample of ten Indian immigrant families drawn from two different social positions - (a) the educated, professional and affluent class (doctors, scientists, software professionals, consultants, etc.), and (b) less educated, working class (owners and employees of grocery & convenience stores, gas stations, motels & restaurants, etc.). Given the complexity of the issue of class in general, and especially its intersections with caste, religion, and other variables in the Indian context, the findings in this study will be treated not so much as a class-based comparison of reception, but instead as an attempt to situate reception in a social and historical context that is marked by profound differences in access to privilege at the local, national and transnational levels. In addition, operating with the family as the research site allows this comparative frame to investigate similarities and differences based on gender and generation. Drawing on the tradition of using ethnographic techniques to analyze media reception (in this case, participant-observation and in-depth interviews), this project hopes to establish popular culture as a crucial site for exploring how identities are communicatively constituted in the Indian diaspora. Arguing that cinema viewing constitutes one of the most culturally visible arenas of activity in the Indian diaspora, a topic that is just beginning to attract scholarly attention, this project's larger goal is to serve as a starting point for larger debates and contests over several contentious issues that reveal anxieties of Indian immigrants from diverse social positions. Acknowledgements My first note of thanks goes to all those who lent their time, and shared their experiences concerning immigration and life in the Indian-American diaspora. Every conversation and interview was a learning experience far more valuable than this thesis, with its excerpts and inferences, manages to convey. To Sajan Saini, kindred soul - for all the conversations over chai and Punjabi food in Inman Square, for all your astute observations, for contacts, and most important, for believing in the vibrancy of life in the Indian-American hyphen, a very special thank you. Thanks to the CMS collective, for making my time at MIT possible. To Henry Jenkins, teacher and friend: for all the help during the thesis-writing months, for encouraging and nurturing the fan-academic in me, and for demonstrating through your work and life, the importance of engaging with the familiar. To William Uricchio: for initiating this thesis through Friday morning Global Media & Cultures discussions, for all your questions and unwavering support throughout the writing process, thank you. Thanks also to Mike Fischer, thesis chair, for the space and encouragement to experiment. A very special note of thanks to Tuli Banerjee, for always being there, just down the corridor, and for all the lunches and dinners. Tuli - it was great fun working with you! A very special note of thanks to Andy Kavoori, mentor and friend, who shaped my formative years in the world of media studies, and sparked my interest in diaspora studies and Indian film scholarship. Over beer at the Blind Pig Tavern in Athens, GA - that's where this thesis really began. Thanks also to the 3-in-4-2 in-house thesis support group. Sangita Shresthova and Stephanie Davenport - the past year was incredible fun. I'm going to miss y'all in Madison. From one of Hindi cinema's most ardent fans-from-afar, a big shout of thanks to the Indian film industry: your stories, songs, and stars have enchanted, angered, frustrated, moved, inspired, and aroused me and countless other fans in India and abroad. Thanks to my family, in Chicago and Bangalore, for their patience and faith in my choices. Finally, thanks to Mandira: for the "first move", for listening, watching, encouraging, and being such an integral part of my life in Boston. INTRODUCTION SETTING THE STAGE (Speakers Crackle) I have been working to change the way I speak and write, to incorporate in the manner of telling a sense of place, of not just who I am in the present but where I am coming from, the multiple voices within me. - bell hooks, Yearning, p. 146 FADE IN Interior Bedroom - late night CLOSE ON Your POV: Dimly lit room with a mattress on the floor, strewn with books and papers. CLOSER ON Imaginary Homelands, Modernity at Large, The Karma of Brown Folk, Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire, The Audience and its Landscape. A computer sits in one corner, a poster on a wall to the left, 'authentic reproductions of contemporary signs of the times of India,' a collage. On a wall to the right, a calendar turned to the month of April, with the words 'chapter deadline' written in big, black letters in several spaces. On WinAmp: Gulzar's poetry set to music by R. D. Burman. Kishore and Lata's voices fade up (for the uninitiated - Gulzar: poet, lyricist; R. D. Burman: music director; Kishore and Lata: famous playback singers). At the desk: Apu: narrator, immigrant, amateur ethnographer, face lit by flickering glow of the computer monitor. Flopped on the bed: Swami, a friend, fan, immigrant, and informant, flipping through a printout Apu just handed him. CUT TO: [Words the Screen (sound of Apu's fingers on the keyboard)] A little less than four years ago, Swami and I found ourselves waiting in line outside the U.S Consulate in Chennai, India. As we waited our turn to submit visa applications, our thoughts turned to life as a graduate student in the U.S. The thought of leaving behind all that we knew and loved disturbed us. We knew a lot of people - friends and relatives - studying or working in different parts of North America who had sent us countless emails about fast food joints, their cheap first cars, road trips, strip clubs, music bands, and other fun things. So we weren't particularly worried about adjusting to life there; as Swami said, how wrong could we go after having spent years consuming Archie comics, TIME magazine, and countless Hollywood action movies?