Project Gallery: Bollywood and Bolsheviks

Indo-Soviet Collaboration in Literature and Film, 1954-1991
Jessica Bachman
Jessica Bachman medium shot looking at the camera in short brown hair and a long black shirt

 

 

In the spring of 2017, the installation transformed the University of Washington’s capacious Allen Library lobby into two adjacent sitting rooms. Designed to reflect interior design trends of the 1960s and 70s, the parlor spaces invited visitors to interact with objects of Indo-Soviet cultural exchange.

In this Soviet “sitting room,” viewers are invited to experience the vibrant forms of Indian cinema and meet the Bollywood film stars who captivated Soviet audiences from the mid-1950s until the disintegration of the USSR in 1991.
In this Soviet “sitting room,” viewers are invited to experience the vibrant forms of Indian cinema and meet the Bollywood film stars who captivated Soviet audiences from the mid-1950s until the disintegration of the USSR in 1991.
A sign welcomes visitors to the Bollywood and Bolsheviks exhibit in Allen Library.
A sign welcomes visitors to the Bollywood and Bolsheviks exhibit in Allen Library. The exhibit charts the dynamic exchange of writers, translators, publishers, actors, and film producers between India and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

 

A viewer examines a movie poster and other ephemera included in the exhibit. Indian films made their popular debut in Soviet cinema halls during the 1954 Indian Film Festival. Tired of Stalin-era Socialist Realism, Soviet viewers gravitated toward Indian cinema to escape from the realities of everyday life.
A viewer examines a movie poster and other ephemera included in the exhibit. Indian films made their popular debut in Soviet cinema halls during the 1954 Indian Film Festival. Tired of Stalin-era Socialist Realism, Soviet viewers gravitated toward Indian cinema to escape from the realities of everyday life.

 

The exhibit features oral histories of those who helped build and sustain the networks of Indo-Soviet literary and cinematic exchange. The interviews, which play on the television in the background, were filmed and produced by exhibit curator Jessica Bachman and documentary filmmaker Emma Hinchliffe.
The exhibit features oral histories of those who helped build and sustain the networks of Indo-Soviet literary and cinematic exchange. The interviews, which play on the television in the background, were filmed and produced by exhibit curator Jessica Bachman and documentary filmmaker Emma Hinchliffe.

 

Gallery visitors converse in the Soviet sitting room.
Gallery visitors converse in the Soviet sitting room. The USSR’s interest in importing Bollywood films and entering into joint production agreements with Indian film studios is a reflection of the immense impact Third World decolonization had on Soviet foreign policy. By the mid-1950s, India had become a formidable leader among the decolonizing nations of the Third World, and the USSR sought to earn its friendship through a spirited revival of cultural diplomatic initiatives, including film diplomacy. 
The Soviet books arranged on the shelves of this Indian parlor arrived by way of Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai, where they were consumed, collected, and cherished. With subventions permitting their sale in India at well below the cost of production, thousands of Soviet titles were made affordable to South Asian readers.
The Soviet books arranged on the shelves of this Indian parlor arrived by way of Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai, where they were consumed, collected, and cherished. With subventions permitting their sale in India at well below the cost of production, thousands of Soviet titles were made affordable to South Asian readers.

 

A sign describes the cultural impact of Indian film in the Soviet Union. Soviet viewers were introduced to new storylines, protagonists, and modes of aesthetic expression that privileged the sincerity, spontaneity, and banalities of private everyday life over the ornamental celebration of Soviet heroism and the public work collective that had defined Stalin-era cinema.
A sign describes the cultural impact of Indian film in the Soviet Union. Soviet viewers were introduced to new storylines, protagonists, and modes of aesthetic expression that privileged the sincerity, spontaneity, and banalities of private everyday life over the ornamental celebration of Soviet heroism and the public work collective that had defined Stalin-era cinema.

 

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