Bollywood's phoren fan brigade.

[Mohammed Azizuddin]

Greta Kaemmer can really grill you. Hurling questions with rapid-fire velocity, Kaemmer, who is better known as Memsaab, astounds you with her encyclopedic knowledge of Indian cinema . Sample this: How were Mehmood and Meena Kumari related in real life? Don’t know. In which Hindi film do two actresses play the same character? Duh. And in which film does Shammi Kapoor do a nautch girl number? I’m logging off...

Memsaab is part of a growing group of foreigners who love Indian cinema as much as any desi. Accomplished in Hinglish , these men and women are passionate about all things Bollywood. Take Maria, a German blogger and diehard fan of Shah Rukh Khan who was so upset with the lack of a German release for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna in her country that she flew to New York to watch the film: First day, first show. Or Bastet, another German blogger who writes, ‘‘ Being a Bollywood fan in Germany is not easy. We undertook a 200-km-long trip to Amsterdam (to see KANK). At that moment , we didn’t mind that the film was in Dutch and not in English subtitles.’’

Both Maria and Bastet are part of a growing online craze that according to German journalist and author Brigit Pestal is now going offline as well. Pestal, who has written a book on Bollywood cinema and its influence on German speaking countries, estimates that there are 50,000 viewers of Bollywood films in Austria and Switzerland and one million viewers in Germany. She says, ‘‘ Hardcore filmi fans in Germany go for Bollywood dancing at night. They wear saris, bindis, bangles and even learn some Hindi . About 70% of these fans are female.’’

But the craze is not just confined to Germany. Kwanghyun Jung, runs an 8,000 member-strong internet club in South Korea which shows one Hindi film a month and till recently ran Bollywood dance classes. Says Jung, ‘‘ We don’t see movies silently in Korean style but rather in Indian style, which means making a lot of noise, laughing loudly at every joke and abusing the villain.’’ This is what attracts Korean audiences to Bollywood movies. As to the choice of films, he says that almost all movies screened are SRK movies because members aren’t interested in anyone but him. ‘‘ We also make Shah Rukh T-shirts , cups and some members carry his photos. Even their cellphone screensavers are SRK images.’’

This passion for King Khan has united online fans of Indian cinema in a rather unique way. It made Beth Watkins, Michael Langhans and Barbara Skoda set up bollywoodbloggers.com, one of the largest online sites for non-Indian fans of Indian cinema. Watkins and Langhans have started a project called tracking the adventures of Mini Khan.
Link:Memsaab: Bollywood's phoren fan brigade- Entertainment-Media / Entertainment -News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


My personal opinion:
Great to see that Bollywood has got admirers in Europe and Usa, apart from Indian people living there.
I remember watching a show on television that was featuring the premer of the SharukhKhan movie "Om Shanti Om" in Germany...maan, I was stunned at the reception the crowd gave SRK the moment he stepped out of his car, the girls were going crazy, and 80% of them were'nt Indians, all these firangi girls were cheering SRK as-if they saw his movies everyday..only to realise SRK is such a big star even in Germany.
Surely Bollywood is talking India into remotest corners of the world.This comes in advantage for any country.

What say.....???

 

[Vinod2070]

The story is the same in many African countries, Egypt, SE Asia, Japan etc.

Bollywood has many fans across the globe for It's brand of cinema.

Melodramatic, repetitive, high on emotion, music and drama but effective for many.