IIFA 2014: Has the govt failed to tap into Bollywood as an asset?

We have a completely made-in-India product, written about positively in the BBC, Fox, NBC, The Sunday Express, New Strait Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and The Telegraph, to name a few. When was the last time something from India received such wide and positive international press attention? It would probably be the launch of the Tata Nano. And if you haven’t clicked on one of the links above and figured out what it is that is attracting so much attention, let us tell you what it is: The International Indian Film Academy Awards, which most of you would know as the IIFA Awards. [caption id=“attachment_941519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A man snapping pics of ab IIF promotional billboard. AFP.[/caption] It’s interesting – and timely – that this coverage happens barely months after Narendra Modi, the BJP’s PM candidate, spoke at length on the need to promote India’s as a ‘soft’ power, through the various assets that could be leveraged    Among the assets Modi listed ( aided and abetted by the late Wally Olins) were Bollywood, Ayurveda, medical tourism and plain vanilla tourism. It takes a private entity, Wizcraft, to see the opportunity well ahead of the government. Wizcraft’s three partner-directors, Andre Timmins, Viraf Sarkari and Sabbas Joseph had little or no exposure to brands and branding. However, all three, thanks to their experience in entertainment and journalism, had more than a fair idea of what consumers wanted – and the success of the IIFA is testament to this ability. The IIFA success underlines that Wally Olins’ prescription for the projection of India as a soft power has legs. Who will next tap into this opportunity – the new government or someone from the private sector?