Journal Articles
In Focus Introduction: The Celebritization of Politics in Global Media Culture
The realm of celebrity and the realm of politics have always been connected in mutually reinforcing ways. In the contemporary moment, however, political aesthetics and democratic practice have become particularly intertwined.
Modi vs. Wild: Celebritized Politics and the Mediations of a Spiritual Strongman
In August 2019, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi appeared on Discovery Channel’s special episode of Man vs. Wild (2006–2011, 2019–), a nature survival show. Hosted by Bear Grylls, a world-famous British survivalist,
Bollywoodizing Netflix or globalizing Hotstar The cultural industrial logics of global streaming platforms in India
Academic books on Indian cinema and film industry have not kept pace with the prodigious number of films produced in India each year that,
Between the divine and digital: Parsing Modi’s charismatic avatar
This article explores the production of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s saintly charismatic avatar and the mediations of this avatar that seek to bestow him with exceptional authority.
Bollywoodizing Netflix or globalizing Hotstar? The cultural-industrial logics of global streaming platforms in India
This article analyzes the localization strategies of Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar, positing India as a distinctive cultural-industrial contact zone. The Indian market’s size, scale,
From Bombay Talkies to Khote Productions: female star switching power in bollywood production culture
From Bombay Talkies to Khote Productions: female star switching power in bollywood production culture
“May the Force Be With You”: Narendra Modi and the Celebritization of Indian Politics
“May the force be with you” were the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parting words as he ended his 2014 address to a rapturous crowd of Indian Americans in New York’s Madison square garden.
BRICS| Road to India—A Brazilian Love Story: BRICS, Migration, and Cultural Flows in Brazil’s Caminho das Indias
The Brazilian telenovela Caminho das Índias or India, a Love Story garnered more than 40 million viewers in Brazil and went on to win an international Emmy for best telenovela. Set in India and Brazil, Caminho das Índias highlights the challenges to established traditional values such as caste, lifestyles, and norms in emerging economies because of global migration.
Whither" Bollywood"? Articulating Bollywood as a Network and Celebrity as the Industry’s Global Node
Using Manuel Castell’s theorization of network society, communication power, and ways in which power is constituted through networks, this paper argues that Bollywood is a network of a variety of nodes that include various individual and institutional actors (Castells).
“Made in Bollywood”: Indian popular culture in Brazil's Caminho das Indias
A year after the release of Slumdog Millionaire, Brazil’s Rede Globo came up with one of its most popular and expensive telenovelas,
Caminho das Indias.
Book Reviews
Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture
Celebrity has always been an element of American politics… Take Donald Trump: the essence of his fame is no different from that of, say, Paris Hilton. He didn’t orbit the earth or win an Oscar or cure athlete’s foot. He used other peoples’ money to buy real estate,
Encyclopedia Entries
Arjun Appadurai and Critical Cultural Studies
Globalization as a phenomenon was seen by scholars as a compression of the world, where the world comes together as a global village in thought and in action. Arjun Appadurai, in his theorization of globalization, challenges this view.