'Dil Dance Maare Re' Bollywoodisation of the Indian folk dance forms

This chapter analyses the representation of folk dance forms in song and dance sequences of Yash Raj Films (YRF) from the 2000s onwards. It begins by examining the context of the cultural landscape of the 2000s, which was shaped by the increasing dominance of US-led popular culture. These new cultural influences were brought in by the network of global media conglomerates in a post-global India whose economy was thoroughly integrated into the globalised economic order. The ubiquitous presence of US-led global popular culture is better defined as a process of negotiation rather than as straightforward cultural imperialism. As part of this process of negotiation, Indian filmmakers appropriated global cultural influences to recreate cultural products with indigenised elements for local audiences. The analysis focuses n two celebrated song and dance sequences from the YRF films Veer-Zaara (2004) and Tashan (2008) to reveal the interesting ways in which folk dance forms are utilised and hybridised with Western (specifically American) popular culture.