Digital Bollywood

Another sign that the new media environment may offer new opportunities for nonwestern media makers: Kazaa, the file-swapping program, will be offering users the chance to download a Hindi-language film, Supari, for $2.99 and to download songs from the movie for 90 cents each. The filmmaker will get paid each time the movie file is shared and purchased via Kazaa. This will be an interesting test of consumers’ willingness to pay for content which they might have pirated under other circumstances. The choice of content no doubt reflects the degree to which the South Asian diaspora has gone digital and the degree to which Bollywood now commands a solid cult following outside its country of origin.