The Indian film industry as a driver of new socio­economic connections between India and Europe

The Indian film industry produces between 1,500 to 2,000 films annually. While Indian cinema has had a presence in certain parts of the world linked to its diaspora, in the recent past, it has crossed over to non­South Asian audiences. This expansion has also led to a widespread incorporation of new locations in the production process. Since the advent of colour in the 1960s, films like An Evening in Paris (1967), Silsila (1981), Chandni (1989), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Fanaa (2006), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Queen (2014), have extensively mobilized picturesque European locations. Locating films in a foreign setting is meant to offer an attraction to viewers and is in part an attempt to appeal to diasporic audiences closely connected to a sense of ‘India’.

The FilmInd project attempts to understand the mobilization of European locations in Indian cinema, linking these practices to the contexts of cultural and creative industries, tourism, diplomacy, and new economic opportunities for investment and employment. European governments, tourism ministries and film commissions, have recently worked towards the promotion of their respective countries as film-shooting destinations. In doing this, they usually emphasize the offer of professional services, good value for money based on local services and incentives in the form of cash rebates. This charged context of increasing competition in attracting film­makers to new locations and the international circulation of Indian cinema, has created new types of cultural connections and possible economic cooperation between India and European countries. The potential for European-Indian cooperation is significant and can be mutually beneficial.

Given that this project is interested in how locations shape and are shaped by film production and circulation, the methodology encompasses:
• To map the scale and analyse the specific locations across Europe where Indian cinemas are being shot (European-wide and country-specific analyses);
• To identify the specific nature of the infrastructure that allows for easy mobility of film crews to these European locations;
• To investigate the construction of place through the use of European locations in Indian cinema;
• To analyse the socio-economic impact of the Indian film industry in Europe and in India;
• To promote and support local and regional development in Europe and India through the Indian film industries.