The 'Bollywood' Reckoning: Indian Cinema Confronts Its Identity as Regional Power Rises

Amitabh Bachchan declares war on the word "Bollywood". In a seismic cultural moment, a consortium of India's most prominent filmmakers and actors — including Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and director Priyadarshan — are formally petitioning the Oxford English Dictionary to delete the term entirely, calling it a "derivative, patronising" colonial hangover that reduces the world's most prolific film industry to a "pale imitation of Hollywood." This isn't just about...