Bollywood has always intrigued me, urging me to learn more and more about the functioning of the industry. I was always drawn towards the communication side of Bollywood, and the passion towards Bollywood only got stronger when I joined a celebrity, fashion and lifestyle magazine ‘Hi Blitz’ in Mumbai, where the Indian Film Industry is based. Working for the magazine I had to often interact with many well-known and not so well know celebrities and PR’s in Bollywood. What was fascinating was to know how a PR sometimes seemed to have more power than the celebrities themselves.
This blog is an attempt to get closer to my dissertation topic, which is exploring the extent to which Public Relations is replacing advertising in Bollywood.
However, I am deviating and want to explore the extent to which Bollywood takes on social responsibility to make a difference to the nation and the world. Do celebrities that fight for a cause really want to make a difference to our country which is fighting so many social issues as of today or is it just another PR stunt before the release of their film? The trend of filmmakers making cinema that have a social message, is it because they really care or is it just to win the next critic award? Social responsibility in Bollywood has been questioned and debated on more than one occasion, and very often it just seems like another PR stunt. However I disagree and do believe that most celebrities or filmmakers that invest so much time, money and energy do it because they feel for it… but can we know for sure?
