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Bollywood 'soft touch' to overpower China
(Times of India, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 28--DAVOS -- As India tries to play catch-up with China, it is being helped by its awesome soft power reach, courtesy the all-pervasive influence of Bollywood.
Joseph S Nye Jr of Harvard, who coined the concept of soft power, says that Indian films with a sprawling audience across Asia, Middle East and Africa, are the cutting edge of the country's soft power.
He said though China has also made a beginning by making some "good films" in Chinese language, India is way ahead.
Nye Jr, a keen India watcher who served as under secretary of state in the first administration of Bill Clinton, defines 'soft power' as the ability to get what you want without having to take recourse to coercion.
"Put shortly, it means the ability to attract", he told TOI in a casual conversation on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum summit. Breaking down the concept he coined, he says it consists of culture, values and policies.
In the case of India, the culture component, according to the former dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, consists of a rich and amazingly diverse culture and the presence of an enormous film industry.
While the successful democratic experiment in India is seen as reflecting the values of the country, a further factor seems to be the inclusive nature of its policies. "Taken together, they give India an advantage", said the Harvard dean.
He made a specific reference to the controversy raging over restrictions Chinese have clamped down on Google and how it adversely impacts on its image abroad.
"It contrasts so sharply with India's deserved claim to be a successful market democracy," he said. There could be two ways of looking at Google's acquiescence.
"I personally feel that Google has done the right thing by staying put, because there is a point beyond which the Chinese will not be able to control the powerful medium of internet," Nye Jr said.
But there is no mistaking, he said, the damage it has caused to China's image. "The contrast with India is visible, and will help the latter in the long run," he felt.
He, however, pointed out that soft power is not a fixed commodity which runs no risk of getting undermined.
"India's soft power gets undercut by reports of continued caste conflict, riots such as those in Gujarat and misgovernance in Bihar. On balance, however, it has a clear edge over China," he said.
Drawing a parallel with the US, he said "America's soft power was damaged because of Vietnam. Though the damage was repaired in the following years, policies in Iraq have again undermined the huge advantage the country has because of its culture."
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