Bollywood Movies Becoming Popular in Ethiopia

Bollywood movies have been praised in African country Ethiopia. A symposium named 'Cinema Now: Here and There' has been arranged by the Indian Embassy with the help of the ministries of culture, tourism, trade and industry of Ethiopia. On this occasion, notable Ethiopian filmmakers are experiencing some notable movies and want to make a close relation with the Indian film industry.

Ethiopian film makers talked about the 1950s and 1960s films of Bollywood which had great impact on the lives of Ethiopians. Tadelech Dalecha, State Minister of Culture and Tourism in Ethiopia, has praised this kind of initiative and sent his greetings to Indian embassy for taking such an initiative.

I have gone through a andhracafe report on this report and I am quoting some lines from the report:

Eminent Ethiopian filmmakers including Tatek Tadesse, Surafiel Wondimu and Berhane Negussie talked about the impact Indian films like Mehboob Khan's legendary 'Mother India' and Yash Chopra's 'Waqt' made on them. Haiyamanot Alemu spoke on the challenges of feature filmmaking in Ethiopia. His film was being premiered this week.

Renowned screenplay writer Tesfaye Mamo discussed historical aspects, present conditions and future prospects of the film industry in Ethiopia. Ramendra Shah, a long time distributor of Indian films here, gave an overview of the history and impact of Indian cinema in Ethiopia while Indian scholars Neeti Sethi Bose and Heroy Arefe-Aine made a presentation on stereotypes and popular cinema.

State Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Tusa, an alumnus of India's Hissar Agriculture University, appreciated the embassy's initiative in trying to create a forum for discussion among filmmakers of Ethiopia and government bodies. The symposium also discussed the role of film festivals, capacity building for cinema, emulating the model of India's government-funded National Film Development Corp (NFDC) and using Ethiopian cinema to promote the country's identity and image overseas.

Indian Ambassador Gurjit Singh announced that the embassy would continue to encourage cinema in Ethiopia and assist in whatever manner possible including supporting a forum of filmmakers, for interaction on good cinema and its impact in Ethiopia.

'Impact of Indian Cinema on Ethiopia', a documentary produced by the Ethiopian Television, was also screened at the symposium. It included interviews with filmgoers who watch Indian films at home - many of them said that while they do not understand Hindi but have seen some Hindi films often enough to provide simultaneous translation into the local language for others.

The documentary also featured many video parlour owners who said they had better turnout for Indian films than for Hollywood films.

A week-long festival of award-winning Indian films, currently underway here, is drawing film buffs. The films being screened include 'Massey Sahib', 'English August', 'Train to Pakistan', 'Vastupurush', 'Shubho Muhurat', 'Baghban' and 'Manthan'.

It is a good sign for Bollywood too as it is indicating that Bollywood movies are getting universalized over the world. So, who knows, today or tomorrow, Bollywood movies will also be able to create the same appeal of Hollywood movie.