Bollywood, the Internet and Asiangigs.com

By Fuad Omar (Aug 2001).

This week I'm going to write to address each and every one of the Asiangigs readers who have either followed my work on the website, come here regularly or are just passing through. What I want to do is tell you this week about the industry termed 'Bollywood' and how its future relates to the words you are reading on your computer screen.

"I started out writing as a hobby, way back when I was in school and I found writing about what I felt strongly about or liked seemed to come easy to me. What started as a hobby grew into both a curricular and extra-curricular activity and from then onwards a passion which culminated in my career. I love writing. There is much power in words. I am a freelance journalist who writes for various publications, newspapers and a few websites, and one that has allowed me my journalistic freedom and shared my vision is Asiangigs. Those of you who regularly read the Bollywood Update at Asiangigs.com will by now know we have built for you an invaluable resource cataloguing people and films that represent a certain time in Indian cinema, and what's resulted is the articles you have come to read and enjoy. We've purposely steered clear of gossip because firstly I don't do gossip and secondly myself and Asiangigs do not endorse a pastime adopted by many not-so-credible publications and websites which only seek to hurt and discredit individuals through fictionally based stories. This is one thing that attracted me to Asiangigs.com - it's belief in my work and in good journalism.

The brains behind the website you are reading is Ajay Pamneja, someone who sought to provide a service that would basically tell you what's on, where it's on and also list services. Based on this initial concept I'm sure you' ll agree he's done more than surpassed what he set out to do, in that he's created an essential guide to Asian events, bagged top Bollywood stars' interviews (and many of them even check the website) and even supported home-grown entertainment in the names of talent such as the ones you'll find on the site like Abz-Salute Bli$$ and Rakhi Sood. What he's done is given back to the people who're supporting him, to the community and done what he set out to: provide a service.

Why am I writing all this, am I leaving Asiangigs.com and wishing it well by a timely worded self-epitaph? Nope! What I'm saying, valued web visitor, is that what was once a concept has become reality and gone beyond that into something bigger and better than imagined.

And that's exactly what's about to happen again.

The Internet is a global revolution that affects almost every human being in the world now that most of us have computer access and cannot even remember the days (less than 10 years ago) when the Internet was not a standard component of daily life, but a luxury. Web sites communicate to people throughout the world and give you up-to-date information and access to the information explosion. We are a web wide community and together we provide the energy the internet uses to thrive and survive. If we didn't keep updating all it'd be is a line of dead web sites that were once created with good intentions.

Bollywood is moving forward and has embraced the Internet and I say this because I remember the days I used to go on interviews and before I started writing for Asiangigs there always used to be someone behind me trying to get interviews for some web site that would be refused because stars would not give them as much importance as the printed word. Of course equations change and I myself jumped on board the Internet engine through Asiangigs.com and we now hear less of those stars who don't respect the reach of a web site. There are some, yes, who still "don't do dot coms" but give them time.!

We now see almost every Indian movie that's released having it's own web site for the movie, and what purpose does that serve other than to create hype for a movie pre-release and give out information about it. Now we even have stars like Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla who have their own web sites made by themselves and the future is much more exciting.

What the Internet is about to do (and Asiangigs.com too) is become a part of the Bollywood industry. The same way you tune into radio stations to hear your favourite star's voice or turn on the TV to catch a moving glimpse of him/her, you'll find all that now moving onto your computer screen available at your finger tips. With the advent of digital television and the set-top boxes that make your television an Internet environment what you'll soon have is a web site that's your own channel. YOU choose what you want to watch and where it is, and that's what I'm hear to tell you.

What started with the Uday Chopra giveaway where we gave away autographs by all members of the Mohabbatein cast, is about to increase threefold. What our aim is is to become a part of Bollywood through continuing the exclusives you have been receiving and also providing you soon with soundbytes with messages for you from your favourite stars - just for you. What we're working towards providing is great giveaways and more autographs, as well as the 'send in your question' option where we'll even allow you to interact with your favourite star through you asking the questions and we'll try to hunt them down to get the reply.

What I'm getting at is two things:
Firstly a heartfelt thanks for your continuing support, your emails, phone calls and communication, and secondly to let you know we're aiming higher to get you an exclusive site that caters to all your entertainment needs.

I write this to say keep watching because from where I'm standing the future is so bright, it dazzles my eyes.There's much, much more to come!