Dimitris Eleftheriotis

A cultural colony of India: Indian films in Greece in the 1950s and 1960s

‘It is not acceptable, at a moment when we are trying to establish ourselves in the European arena, to have become a cultural colony of India.’ In such politically loaded terms the prominent critic and writer Nestor Matsas, denounced the ‘illegitimate’ infatuation of Greek audiences with Indian films. His reaction is depressingly typical of the critical denial of the key role played by Indian cinema in Greek film culture in the 1950s and 1960s. In that period many Indian films were imported and screened in a variety of theatres ranging from small neighbourhood operations to large city centre cinemas and encompassing both open air and conventional venues. While the GreekIndian cinematic affair is recognized as a historical event, there have been no attempts to analyse and theorise the phenomenon in a convincing and rigorous way. This essay will attempt to ‘tell the story’ of the Indian cinematic presence in Greece. To make, thus, a small contribution to the mosaic of micro-histories that the present issue of South Asian Popular Culture offers, as well as to account for the popularity and success of the films in Greece, and to speculate about the causes of the persistent critical reticence surrounding this remarkable cultural exchange. There is no accurate or substantially reliable documentation of the exact dimensions of the importation of Indian films. Important research has been undertaken by Helen Abadzi and Emmmanuel Tasoulas that led in 1998 to the publication of their book Indoprepon Apokalypsi. Their research is a painstaking troll through a huge number of primary sources (newspaper articles and reviews, distributors’ publicity material, items in the popular press, etc) which are not always accurate or reliable. Despite the best efforts of the authors, it is impossible to construct a precise and accurate historical picture of the phenomenon but, thanks to their work, we can at least understand the broad dimensions of it. The present essay relies heavily on their findings.

INTRODUCTION: Indian cinema in the world

While there are regular references to Indian cinema’s international circulation since the 1930s the prevailing view remains that it is only recently that a significant break across international borders was achieved that has made Indian cinema, ‘a visible part of the media landscape in the West’ (Ganti, 38). Within such historical paradigm the role of Indian diaspora takes central stage both as a means of explaining Indian cinema’s global reach and as an accessible and crucial market for the Indian film industry. As Raminder Kaur suggests, ‘despite the longstanding appeal of Indian cinema across the globe, the more lucrative markets of Europe and the US with their relatively successful Indian diasporas are targeted for their economic capital’ (Kaur, 311). The pragmatic perceptions of the industry, however, are somewhat misleading as they overlook historically significant processes, periods and cultural exchanges. Indian cinema has claimed durable presence across a range of international territories over a number of decades, and it is essential to acknowledge this presence and influence. The high visibility of the recent scholarship around diasporic cultural production and distribution has overshadowed other, equally viable and important, forms of international circulation of images. Desai, for example, while acknowledging that Indian cinema has had significant international presence and influence in the past by stating that