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Film stardom after liveness

Entertainment in the era of globalisation in India has witnessed a proliferation of corporate institutional practices geared to enhancing and managing the flow of film culture. As films move from exhibition theatres to television, from award shows to talk shows, from dance performances to fashion shows, the figure of the star acquires new force. Given the new networks of circulation, mega-budget stage events, touring shows and award nights have emerged as a prime site for the production of stardom. Annual Award shows linked to major magazines like Filmfare and Screen provide an additional source of revenue and are relayed through live telecasts, reruns and DVD releases. These events are saturated with advertising, dance performances, comic acts and a dazzling ambience that exists within a wide network of transactions between the Film Industry, the Indian diasporas, event management companies, fashion designers, choreographers and sponsors. Tracking this new world of star circulation, this peer-reviewed article traces the emerging links between advertising, film culture and television through a specific focus on the role of event management companies. Event management companies in the last 15 years have emerged as major institutions channelling the movement of stars for both international and domestic shows/performances. Stars, fashion designers, choreographers, stage designers and sponsoring companies work with event management companies to mount star-studded award shows. By focusing specifically on the event management company’s role, this paper attempts to situate star culture within a significantly new economy and configuration that has emerged in India with globalisation. Original ethnographic research for this was part-funded by Mazumdar’s British Academy Fellowship in 2007-8. Fieldwork was conducted in London, Bombay and Delhi. This article has been reprinted in a collection of essays on India’s media titled No Limits: Media Studies from India ed. Ravi Sundaram, Oxford University Press, May 2013 ISBN-10: 019808398X ISBN-13:978-0198083986