CREATIVE COLOURS OF INDIA

How we are leveraging our growing soft power

- REYA MEHROTRA

When South Korean culture started becoming popular globally, with the country exporting its entertainment, fashion, music and movies in a big way, they coined a term to describe it—hallyu—which, when translated, means 'Korean wave'. Indian culture has been making waves globally for years now, but we don't have a coinage for it. Now, with 'Naatu Naatu' and The Elephant Whisperers going home with the golden lady, maybe it is time to change that.

On February 25, in a strange reversal of things, it was the Koreans who tipped their hats to us, when Korean ambassador Chang Jae-bok, as well as other members of his embassy, grooved energetically to the hook of 'Naatu Naatu'. The video of the dancing diplomats got over four lakh views and thousands of likes on YouTube. The German embassy followed suit. In New Jersey recently, Tesla cars blinked their headlights to the song's beats. The likes of Steven Spielberg, Nathalie Emmanuel and Jessica Chastain were rooting for it even before it won the Oscar. For once, we had the world dancing to our tune.

The fact that a song from a Telugu blockbuster won the Oscar shows that Indian cinema is now looking past Bollywood. “There’s so much talent in the southern, Punjabi, Bengali, and other regional film industries,” says film critic Taran Adarsh. “This needs to be tapped and brought to the global stage.”