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Uday Shankar Says Bollywood Needs Vision for Global Reach
Uday Shankar says Hollywood became popular around the world partly because the United States deliberately used its films and media to tell its story.
He says India has not had the same long-term government support for media as a source of influence.
He also says Indian companies have invested less, in part because of the local market’s size and how much people can pay.
Shankar says this approach began to change around two years ago, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi recognised the importance of media and entertainment.
Even so, Indian films are drawing strong audiences at home.
In the first half of 2026, box-office collections were nearly Rs 6,398 crore.
More people also went to theatres than in the same period a year earlier.
The article says upcoming releases include Ramayana Part 1, King and Jailer 2.
JioStar Vice-Chairman Uday Shankar said Hollywood’s global success resulted from a coordinated effort to use American media to strengthen the United States’ image.
Shankar said Indian governments had not historically treated media as an industry or a source of global soft power.
He argued that lower investment and the domestic market’s size and paying capacity have also limited Indian content’s international ambitions.
The article says Prime Minister Narendra Modi began recognising media and entertainment’s power around two years ago.
India’s first-half 2026 box-office collections reached nearly Rs 6,398 crore, while theatre footfall rose about 5% year on year to 37.8 crore.
- Who
- JioStar Vice-Chairman Uday Shankar discussed Bollywood’s global reach.
- What
- Shankar attributed Hollywood’s international success to a broader effort to promote American media and said India lacked comparable government backing and investment.
- Where
- The discussion concerned India, Bollywood and Hollywood’s international reach.
- When
- Shankar spoke in an interview on Bloomberg Podcasts; the article also reports Indian box-office figures for the first half of 2026.
- Why
- Shankar said differences in government vision, investment, domestic-market size and consumer paying capacity help explain Bollywood’s more limited global reach.
Shankar’s explanation
Domestic-market indicators
What explains Bollywood’s global reach?
Shankar’s explanation
Shankar says Hollywood benefited from a concerted effort to use American media to reinforce the United States’ image, while India lacked comparable government backing and investment.
Domestic-market indicators
The article also reports strong domestic box-office collections and rising theatre attendance, showing that Indian films have a substantial home audience, though this does not directly dispute Shankar’s explanation of their international reach.
Key facts
- Interviewee
- Uday Shankar, Vice-Chairman of JioStar
- Interview outlet
- Bloomberg Podcasts
- Indian box office, first half of 2026
- Nearly Rs 6,398 crore
- Year-on-year box-office change
- About 10% higher than the same period in 2025
- Theatre footfall, first half of 2026
- 37.8 crore, up about 5% year on year
- Indian box office in 2025
- Around Rs 13,395 crore
- Upcoming films named
- Ramayana Part 1, King and Jailer 2
Quotes
Uday Shankar
JioStar Vice-Chairman
“First and foremost, Hollywood was not created accidentally. There was a broader social, governmental consensus to create, to use the power of American content, American media to build a story globally and reinforce brand US”
theprint.in
“In the case of India, what has happened, the investments have been low because the size of the domestic market has been much smaller. And also the paying capacity of the population is much less”
theprint.in
Sources
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