The biggest ever Bollywood show in South Africa was Now or Never in 2002, featuring a dozen leading artists from the industry. Promoter Anant Singh is seen here with, from left, Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta, and Rani Mukherjee at a media conference in Durban before the show.
THE euphoric tours of South Africa in the 1990s featuring leading Bollywood stars have died out, and there are various reasons for this.
For decades, the cultural ties between India and South Africa were written in the language of cinema and music, extended to such live shows.
From the historic enclaves of Durban and Johannesburg to the sprawling cultural centres across the country, the arrival of a Bollywood live show was a monumental event. It meant glittering costumes, high-energy choreography, and the chance to see legendary actors step off the silver screen and into real life.
Today, however, those massive stage productions have all but vanished. To understand why South African arenas no longer echo with the sounds of playback singers and mega-stars, one must look back at a complex history of political isolation, soaring economic realities, and a shifting global entertainment landscape.
