The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

It is a well-known fact that India makes more films seen by more people than any other country in the world. Produced by commercial Hindi language industries based in Bombay (Mumbai), Bollywood films, in particular, have achieved increasing international visibility over the past two decades. Mirroring the international distribution of commercial Hindi films, Bollywood dance as live performance is fast becoming a global phenomenon with specialized dance schools emerging in many urban centers.

Driven by enthusiastic audiences eager to learn dances they
have seen in films, Bollywood dance has now emerged as a recognized movement category. In this presentation, we will explore the global influence of Bollywood films through Bollywood dance ethnography in Mumbai, Los Angeles, Kathmandu, Prague and YouTube.

Dr. Shresthova is a Czech/Nepali development scholar, filmmaker, and media analyst. She holds a Ph.D. from UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures, a MSc. degree from MIT's Comparative Media Studies program where she focused on Hindi cinema, as well as a MSc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Focusing on the globalizing dimensions of Hindi film, she is the programming director of the annual Prague Bollywood Festival, the largest South Asian event in the Czech Republic. Now in its seventh year, the festival actively encourages a lively debate about Hindi cinema and other related industries through film screenings, panels, and international cultural exchange.