Will Hollywood displace Bollywood?

Here is a recent piece on the attempt of Paramount and others to take on Bollywood on Indian turf.  Here is the longer version of what I wrote to the reporter:

I would be surprised if the Hollywood effort were to succeed.  After all, *Bride and Prejudice* was not beloved by most Indians.  Conscious efforts to mimic other genres and styles usually fall flat; how many composers today try to write in the style of Mozart, much less succeed?  The Hollywood giants are very effective in making expensive, celebrity-laden movies and most of all marketing them well.  I don't expect this model to capture the appealing idiosyncrasies of Bollywood production.  The Bollywood (and other Indian regional) styles have sprung from what are by Hollywood standards highly informal ventures, sometimes even with ties to the Mafia, and deeply rooted in Indian cultural fantasies.  The power of those fantasies won't survive further corporatization.

I'm sure the Hollywood movies will attract a lot of attention at first, especially in major Indian cities?  Who isn't curious to see one's portrait painted by outsiders?  But will these films ever win over the heart of the Indian countryside?  My best guess is "no."

It's not so unusual for American or globalized culture to bend to local taste.  McDonald's in India serves lamb burger and curry, not the American Big Mac.  Indian pop music and Indian classical music remain robust.  What is unusual is for Hollywood, or some other outside force, to try to copy the native style so exactly.  And that is unusual for a reason -- it usually doesn't work.  Cultural creativity is a delicate force, requiring a very definite balance of elements.  Hollywood probably cannot succeed where Bollywood already has gone.  By the time Hollywood has a good copy, Bollywood will have moved on to something just a bit different, and a bit more in touch with the Indian population.  Who after all knows the Indian population better than Bollywood?"