About South Asian Diasporic Film

“South Asian diasporic films function significantly as part of the shifting economic, political, and cultural relations between global capitalism and the post colonial nation-state, raising questions regarding the negotiation of cultural politics of diasporas located within local, national, and transnational processes.”

One notable feature of South Asian Diaspora films is that they often dis-identify with dominant ideologies.

It is crucial to understand diasporic film productions in relation to the global cinema industry. Hollywood ultimately has a large role in determining the circulation and consumption of diasporic films. Because Hollywood operates in a postindustrial mode it woks to acquire and distribute “independent” alternative films, including those rooted in South Asian cinema. Looking at the history of diasporic film circulation in Bollywood it is important to note that South Asian diasporas consume a large amount of Bollywood films; however, diasporic lives were rarely the center of these films. Today, this is not the case, as films depicting diasporic lives have proven to be a lucrative business. The export of films today more frequently occurs between India and its new found diasporas in places including North America, Britain, New Zealand and Australia.

Diasporic modes of production can be characterized by dominant, interstitial and collective. One area of concern for the South Asian diasporic cinema is funding.

Britain has proved to be one of the most diverse diasporic film locations as a result of post colonial migration. Films that emphasized displacement and institutional impacts on the lives of migrants ultimately created greater networks of production and distribution. Additionally, early diasporic film success in Britain, Canada and the United States is partially related to the common content topics of racism, multiculturalism, gender and sexuality. These early films were often mobilized via routes formed in the diaspora than actual roots in the countries.

As time progressed diasporas gained increased access to South Asian productions. With the increased circulation filmmakers began to explore the changes of the South Asian urban middle-class.

Jigna Desai, author of Beyond Bollywood: the Cultural Politics of South Asian Diasporic Film, believes that British cultural studies of Blacks provides a theoretical framework that allows production of the South Asian Diasporic cinema to be understood. The idea that Black politics and identity emerged from Diasporic films can be further understood by looking at the film My Beautiful Laundrette. 

My Beautiful Laundrette changes the playing field by challenging the dominant conceptions of Asians in Britain. The film is set during the time that Margret Thatcher ruled in England and using relationships between Whites and Asians challenges the place of Asians in society. The film posted a challenge to the national British cinema by framing sexual encounters as social and political matters that openly discussed race, class and gender. My Beautiful Laundrette is a film that produced an area for emerging identities of Diasporic subjects to be expressed. It also became the first Asian British film to reach national audiences and interestingly enough, was ignored by audience in United States, such as the Black, that found it liberating in England.

Bend it like Beckham is a film that speaks for the current diasporic South Asian and Asian British productions in Britain. The film features an interracial romance between the main character, Jess and her soccer coach, and critiques athletic stereotypes pertaining to gender and race. Along with other Asian British films of the past decades, Bend it like Beckham has attempted to break the dominant notions that audiences hold regarding individuals identities.

Global migration diversifies a countries through people and the cultures they bring with them.  Diasporic film is important throughout the world because it is an influential aspect of each cinema.  From Hollywood to Bollywood and each cinematic culture in between, recognizing the unique qualities of a culture’s cinema is an essential part of appreciating and understanding a film.

For further scholarly information on South Asian Diasporic Film please consult the following sources:

Desai, J. (2004). Beyond Bollywood. New York, NY: Routledge.

Gopinath, G. (2005). Impossible desires:Queer diasporas and South Asian public cultures. United States: Duke University Press.

Rajgopal, S. S. (2003). The politics of location: Ethnic identity and cultural conflict in the cinema of the south asian diaspora. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 27, 49-66.