India: Incredibly Rising, Shining, and Poised Everywhere
Sixty years after India's first independence, a second independence movement is under way. India is discovering and using its potential in ways both exciting and frustrating. Their rebranding as ‘the other China’ now complete, no one questions whether India will rise into the top-tier of economies anymore. It's more about ‘when’ and ‘how’, and a deep bench of talented people making it happen.
Of the four countries, India has caught “BRIC fever” the most, with many media pundits seeing their arrival on the global stage as an inevitability. A hard look at the more visible creative industries shows that the hype isn't always justified, but then there are others which haven't yet broken through and should. I tried in BRIC Pop to sift through it all and picked a few winners.
Tough Shetty: Indian Celebrity Plays to Win
Bollywood stars, business tycoons, even Booker authors can show Tom and Paris a thing or two on how to manage global notoriety and local piety. A look at the Indian celebrity playbook.
Full Nehru Jacket: A Modernist Tryst With Destiny
If Gandhi was the spiritual father, then Nehru was the cultural uncle, the first Modernist in Indian creativity, who deserves credit for inspiration in the arts, architecture, literature, and film.
Pulp Friction: Midnight's Children at the Help Desk
Move over highbrow magical realism, and make room for mass-market literature on call-centers, living overseas, and modern romance. India’s 100 million English speakers have stories to tell.
Post-91: Why 1991 Won't Be Like 1947
The year of economic liberalisation stands for an young India that doesn’t think global and contemporary have to be the enemies of domestic and traditional.
Attention Shoppers: Revolution is a Luxury
The retail opportunity in India isn’t coming from overbuilt malls and domestic big boxes, but small, service-driven luxury boutiques reinventing the concept of curated consumption.
Escape From Planet Bollywood: Legacy vs. Open-Source
Bollywood, and the Indian film industry as a whole, are at a crossroads. A little Sundance indie and a lot of Bangalore IT organization may improve both margins and artistic recognition.
There is no such thing as ‘average’ in Indian pop culture. When it’s great, it’s really, really great. When it’s not, it’s awful. The trick is to ride it out, as there is always something new and better around the corner when you least expect it.