TYING THE KNOT: A DISCUSSION WITH INDIAN AMERICANS ON ARRANGED MARRIAGE THROUGH BOLLYWOOD A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication, Culture, and Technology By Poothi Krishna Madhavi Reddi, B.A. Washington, D.C. April 19, 2018 Copyright 2018 by Poothi Krishna Madhavi Reddi All Rights Reserved !ii TYING THE KNOT: A DISCUSSION WITH INDIAN AMERICANS ON ARRANGED MARRIAGE THROUGH BOLLYWOOD Poothi Krishna Madhavi Reddi, B.A. Thesis Advisor: Jeanine W. Turner, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Bollywood films have a strong presence in the lives of Indian Americans. Previous studies show that they play a significant role in shaping cultural identity. A salient theme in Bollywood films, particularly of the 90’s and early 2000’s, is love. A common narrative of these films features the protagonist choosing between love and arranged marriage, a metaphorical representation of the modernity versus tradition debate borne of the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991. This very conflict transcends into the lives of several Indian Americans. Taking into account the pervasiveness of Bollywood in the lives of Indian Americans, this paper asks “how do today’s dating-age Indian Americans talk about arranged marriage through the romantic Bollywood films that they grew up on?” This question is addressed through two qualitative studies; first, a qualitative content analysis of nine Bollywood films released between 1994-2004 to establish the negative bias towards arranged marriage in cinema, and second, ten in-depth interviews with Indian Americans to understand how their views on Bollywood and arranged marriage intersect. The interviews are analyzed through two frameworks of Stuart Hall, Encoding/Decoding and Circuit of Culture. This study shows that while Bollywood has a strong presence in their lives, the Indian American youth filter the messages of love and arranged marriage through their own life experiences. !iii DEDICATION To anyone looking for love - arranged, independently, or otherwise. !iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my advisor, Dr. Jeanine Turner - Thank you for all your guidance in my academic journey and for serving as exemplary role model. To my second reader, Dr. J.R. Osborn - Thank you for showing me new ways to think about film and for helping me realize my potential. I also want to extend my heartiest thanks to Dr. Matthew Tinkcom - Thank you for your constant support, being your student has been an honor. To my parents - thank you for encouraging me in all my endeavors and for all the help throughout the thesis writing process. I am very lucky to have a number of incredibly supportive friends. A special shoutout to Pooja, Anuj, MC, and Amanda. Thank you for always being there. Many thanks, Madhavi !v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review ............................................................................................................. 6 An Overview of Bollywood’s History .......................................................................... 6 Bollywood in the Age of Economic Liberalization ...................................................... 9 What is Arranged Marriage? ....................................................................................... 10 Representations of Arranged Marriage in Bollywood ................................................ 13 Arranged Marriage: A Nemesis for Independent Love ............................................... 17 Previous Studies ......................................................................................................... 18 Two Qualitative Studies .............................................................................................. 20 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................. 20 Study 1: Qualitative Content Analysis ......................................................................... 23 Marriage Terminology .............................................................................................. 23 Sample ...................................................................................................................... 24 Methodology: Units of Analysis ............................................................................... 25 Results ....................................................................................................................... 29 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 31 Study 2: In-Depth Interviews ......................................................................................... 33 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 33 Interview Guide ........................................................................................................ 34 Participant Profiles .................................................................................................... 35 !vi Analysis of Interviews through Cultural Studies Frameworks ................................. 36 Results through Encoding and Decoding .................................................................. 36 Results through Circuit of Culture ........................................................................... 42 Arranged Marriage: Not a Bad Option ...................................................................... 47 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 48 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 50 Encoding/Decoding .................................................................................................... 50 Circuit of Culture ........................................................................................................ 51 Identity Formation through Consumption of Bollywood ......................................... 52 Is Bollywood a Regulative Tool in its Representation of Partner Selection? ............ 53 Limitations and Future Research around the Moment of Production ....................... 55 Documentary Filmmaking Based Research .............................................................. 56 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix A. Dialogue Chart ......................................................................................... 65 Appendix B. Film Plot Summaries ................................................................................. 66 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 69 !vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Dialogue Sorting Chart .................................................................................. 25 Figure 2. Music Sorting Chart ........................................................................................ 29 Figure 3. Participant Profiles .......................................................................................... 35 Figure 4. Results through Encoding and Decoding ........................................................ 37 Figure 5. Findings ........................................................................................................... 62 Figure 6. Dialogue Sorting Results ................................................................................ 65 !viii INTRODUCTION Anjali, an Indian American woman born and raised in Chicago, just turned 29. She has so much going for her, a successful job at a prestigious law firm, a beautiful apartment, and a num- ber of loyal friends. As happy as she is with her life, she feels a great desire to be in a relation- ship and eventually get married. The problem is, she is having a hard time making this happen. All of her friends encourage her to talk to the co-worker she has been eyeing for the past couple of months, but she is unsure how to communicate her interest. After all, growing up, her parents always said “don’t talk to boys,” and “no dating.” How would she magically develop the skills to do so now? Now that she is at the cusp of 30, her parents are panicking that she is not married and warn about her ticking biological clock. They offer her the idea of an arranged marriage in hopes that she will comply and let them step in. This concern for Anjali’s love life extends be- yond the four walls of her parent’s home. “Aunties” and “Uncles” of the Indian community in her hometown in express their worry and offer to play matchmaker. “You know, my friend’s nephew is a handsome doctor, I think you would make a good pair” says one of Anjali’s mother’s friends. Another family friend says, “The minute you hit 30, the number of prospects go down. I can still introduce you to many eligible bachelors if you are interested.” Anjali pushes back on all of the offers stating emphatically that she will find someone on her own. She goes to bed at night, her mind swirling with the marriage rhetoric of the day. Is it that important to find someone on her own? She always did aspire to have a love story like the one in her favorite