INTRODUCTION
15 Gharbzadegi: Valentine Moghadam, “Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle East” (Lynn Rienner Publishers, 2003), p. 158.
17 to cleanse “the film industry of all its non-Hindu elements”: Jaspreet Gill, “My Name Is Khan: Reinventing the Muslim Hero on the Global Stage.” In Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood, ed. Rajinder Budrah, Elke Mader, and Bernard Fuchs. (Oxford University Press, 2015), p. 127.
18 Shah Rukh Khan, the world’s most famous film actor: “SRK’s ancestral home traced to Pakistan.” The Times of India, March 19, 2010.
20 the most widely deployed army in world history: Tim Kane, “Global U.S. Troop Deployment, 1950–2003.” Heritage Foundation, October 27, 2004.
20 deployed in fifty-four countries: Tim Kane, “Global U.S. Troop Deployment, 1950–2003.”
20 just under 200,000 personnel: Tim Kane, “Global U.S. Troop Deployment, 1950–2003.”
20 326,863 American troops in South Korea alone: Tim Kane, “Global U.S. Troop Deployment, 1950–2003.”
20 a bigger market for American movies than Japan or China: Mark James Russell, Pop Goes Korea (Stone Bridge Press, 2017), L. 209.
21 two brothers who set up the car company: Bruce Cummings, “Korea’s Place in the Sun” (Norton, 2005), p. 328.
21 a mix of foxtrot and Japanese songs: John Seabrook, “Factory Girls.” The New Yorker, October 8, 2012.
22 sociologist Jyotsna Kapur writes: Jyotsna Kapur and Keith B. Wagner, “Introduction.” In Neoliberalism and Global Cinema, ed. Jyotsna Kapur and Keith B. Wagner (Routledge, 2011), L. 186.
24 watched by 10 million households across 190 countries: “Netflix’s first original Turkish series ‘The Protector’ boosts tourist interest in Istanbul.” Daily Sabah, April 15, 2019.
24 adapting Runner for their Hispanic audiences: Nellie Andreeva, “Arms Dealing Drama ‘Runner’ Gets Fox Cast-Contingent Pilot Order.” Deadline, Sept. 10, 2014.
25 “Before, we couldn’t even sell Turkish spaghetti to other countries”: Interview with Eçe Yorenç, March 9, 2018, London.
25 was watched by a peak of 26.2 million people: “Most Popular Daytime TV Soap” Guinness World Records, April 28, 2010.
25 seen by upward of 200 million people: “Turkey’s TV drama exports exceed $250 million.” Hürriyet Daily News, Jan. 13, 2016.
25 moved from rural to urban areas within their own countries: Alex Gray, “These Charts Show How Migration Is Changing Our Cities.” World Economic Forum, October 25, 2017.
25 double the speed of population growth: Alex Gray, “These Charts Show How Migration Is Changing Our Cities.”
25 that number is expected to balloon to 60 percent: “World Urbanization Prospects.” United Nations, 2014.
25 84 percent of the world already lives in urban areas: Gregory Scruggs, “Everything We’ve Heard About Global Urbanization Turns Out to Be Wrong: Researchers.” Reuters, July 12, 2018.
26 between 1.5 and 3 million people move to cities every week: Michael Collyer, “Three Million People Move to Cities Every Week: So How Cities Plan for Migrants?” City Metric, December 3, 2015.
26 90 percent of whom will be in Asia and Africa: “World Urbanization Prospects.”
27 “The United States is much weaker today”: Democracy Now broadcast, November 5, 2018.
CHAPTER ONE
29 I think I’m able to fulfill each latent desire: Interview with Shah Rukh Khan, April 18, 2017, Dubai.
30 Every day, 14 to 15 million Indians go to the movies: Rachel Dwyer, All You Want Is Money, All You Need Is Love (Cassell, 2000), p. 96, and Matt Rosenberg, “Bollywood.” Thoughtco, March 3, 2017.
30 India produces between 1,500 and 2,000 films a year: “Indywood.” Deloitte, September 2016, and Nial McCarthy, “Bollywood: India’s Film Industry by the Numbers.” Forbes, September 3, 2014.
30 in 2012, India sold 2.6 billion tickets compared to Hollywood’s 1.36 billion: Nial McCarthy, “Bollywood: India’s Film Industry by the Numbers.”
30 Bollywood boasts the highest growth rate in the movie industry: Gyorgyi Vajdovich, “I Don’t Need to do this but You’ve Got to Have Passion: Shah Rukh Khan’s Manifold Economic Activities.” In Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood, p. 309.
30 barreling ahead at 11.5 percent a year: “Film industry in India to hit $3.7 billion by 2020, says report.” The Economic Times, Oct. 9, 2017.
30 Indian cinema, exported to over seventy countries, is expected to bring in close to $4 billion: Gyorgyi Vajdovich, “I Don’t Need to do this but You’ve Got to Have Passion,” and “Indywood.”
30 sitting uncomfortably right in front of the screen: Meher Tatna, “The Power of International Markets: In India It’s Bollywood vs. Hollywood.” Golden Globes, March 21, 2017.
31 calling for the lead actress to be beheaded: “Suraj Pal Amu, Who Called For Deepika Padukone’s Beheading, Back In BJP.” NDTV, Oct. 9, 2018.
31 roll back state censorship of the film: “‘Padmaavat’ to ‘Raees’: Top Bollywood films that got into trouble before release.” Entertainment Times.
31 which some consider to be the first feature film ever made: “Hollywood vs Bollywood - Which Is More Successful?” The Infographic Show, YouTube, August 23, 2017.
31 was released a full year before DeMille’s: Rachel Dwyer, All You Want Is Money, All You Need Is Love, p. 97.
31 “we make singies”: Priya Joshi, Bollywood’s India: A Public Fantasy (Columbia University Press, 2015), p. 21.
31 films advertised as “dancicals” and “fighticals”: Ashis Nandy, “The Popular Hindi Film: Ideology and First Principles.” India International Centre Quarterly 8:1 (1981), p. 92.
31 films of the 1930s and ’40s would have as many as forty songs: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema (Warner Books, 2007), p. 7.
31 the world record for most songs in a movie belongs to Indrasabha: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 7.
32 used the term in a detective novel: Priya Joshi, Bollywood’s India, p. 9.
37 where Disco Dancer was the number one movie: Rachel Lopez, “Take a Tour to See How Indian Cinema Has Found Foreign Fans.” Hindustan Times, October 25, 2015.
37 a hit from Brazil to the West Indies: “Aap Jaisa Koi: Remembering Nazia Hasan.” Dawn, August 13, 2014.
37 multinationals swarmed India’s previously closed borders: Manfred B. Steger and Ravi K. Roy, Neoliberalism (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 93.
38 “a desperately sought after but infuriatingly unattainable modernity”: Pankaj Mishra, “Welcome to the age of anger.” The Guardian, Dec. 8, 2016.
38 an average of 2.5 films were released per day: Ashis Nandy, “Introduction: Indian Popular Culture as a Slum’s Eye View of Politics.” In The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema (Palgrave Macmillan, 1998), p. 1.
39 India’s migrants are often economically and politically powerful: “International Migration Report 2017.” United Nations, 2017.
39 “living testimony of inappropriateness”: Ingrid Therwath, “‘Shining Indians’: Diaspora and Exemplarity in Bollywood.” Samaj 4 (2010).
40 Nanda was quickly acquitted, and released by the first court that tried him: Ashok Kumar, “Sanjeev Nanda Held Guilty in BMW Hit and Run Case.” The Hindu, September 3, 2008.
41 “a lot of ingenious ways of smuggling narcotics and killing of people”: Ziauddin Sardar, “Dilip Kumar Made Me Do It.” In The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema, p. 63.
41 mourned the loss of “poetry and refinement”: Ziauddin Sardar, “Dilip Kumar Made Me Do It,” p. 58.
41 Only 10 percent of India’s population speaks English: Vindu Goel, “Amazon’s Plan to Reach 500 Million Indians: Speak Their Language.” New York Times, September 6, 2018.
41 “where we stand today is only a place of despair and sadness”: Ziauddin Sardar, “Dilip Kumar Made Me Do It,” p. 58.
CHAPTER TWO
42 fascist-inspired, paramilitary Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: Maria Casolari, “Hindutva’s Foreign Tie up in the 1930s.” Economic and Political Weekly, January 22, 2000.
43 “a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by”: Shrenik Rao, “Hitler’s Hindus: The Rise and Rise of India’s Nazi Loving Nationalists.” Haaretz, December 14, 2017.
43 The Sangh’s objective: Poornima Joshi, “The long and the shorts of it.” Business Line, Oct. 12, 2018.
43 two Lok Sabha parliamentary seats out of 543: Kalyani Shankar, “The Story of the BJP’s Growth.” The Statesman, August 5, 2017.
43 In the 1998 elections, the party bagged 198 seats: “Statistical Report on General Elections, 1998 to the 12th Lok Sabha.” The Election Commission of India, Volume 1. New Delhi, 1998.
43 40 percent of India’s “very high-class” voters: Shankar Gopalakrishnan, “Defining, Constructing and Policing a ‘New India.’” Economic and Political Weekly 41:26 (June 30–July 7, 2006), p. 2807.
43 according to election data for 1999: Shankar Gopalakrishnan, “Defining, Constructing and Policing a ‘New India.’”
45 fifth most successful non-English film of all time: Rob Cain, “‘Dangal’ Tops $300 Million, Becoming The 5th Highest-Grossing Non-English Movie Ever.” Forbes, June 12, 2017.
45 is said to have “loved” Dangal: https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/aamir-khan-indias-soft-power-inchina/.
47 “to the growing ‘anomie’ in Indian society”: Pankaj Mishra, Butter Chicken in Ludhiana (Penguin, 1995), p. 239.
47 “We don’t have to like him, just the story he is telling”: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 128.
CHAPTER THREE
49 in countries from Peru to Germany: Interview with Farhan Siddiqui, CEO of SRK Universe, May 28, 2017, by email.
49 including a title of Malaysian Knighthood: Bernard Fuchs and Aradhana Seth, “The Don’s World: Designing the Milleau of Shah Rukh Khan.” In Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood, p. 87.
50 “Don’t talk shit”: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, pp. 71, 94.
50 “strange mix of someone beautiful and slimy”: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, pp. 51, 83.
50 “wasn’t chocolatey enough”: “Dr. Shah Rukh Khan—Life Lessons,” University of Edinburgh, YouTube, Oct. 16, 2015.
51 “The setting is not realistic, it’s a lot of fantasy”: Interview with Nasreen Munni Kabir, May 30, 2017, London.
51 “He is inclusive as well as expansive”: Interview with Nandini Ramnath, May 2, 2017, by email.
52 “I’ll take you only when your father gives me your hand in marriage”: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 133.
52 stopped by American immigration at U.S. airports: “Bollywood Star Shah Rukh Khan Detained at Airport Again.” The Guardian, August 12, 2016.
52 “I’m gonna say white”: “Shah Rukh Khan at Yale University as Chubb Fellow (official video).” Yale University, YouTube, April 15, 2012.
53 was known in the Soviet Union as “comrade Awara”: Rajni Bakshi, “Raj Kapoor: From Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai to Ram Teri Ganga Maili.” In The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema, p. 93.
53 Even Joseph Stalin was a fan: Aseem Chhabra, “Raj Kapoor, the Relentless Romantic, Was India’s First Crossover Filmmaker.” India Today, September 15, 2017.
53 “taught them how to love”: Priya Joshi, Bollywood’s India, p. 105.
53 Bollywood films were imported into Nigeria: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 8.
53 “without engaging with the heavy ideological load of ‘becoming Western’”: Kaur and Sinha quoting Brian Larkin’s 1997 ethnography, Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens, p. 21.
53 “opening up a legacy of South Asian tourists”: “Swiss Government Honours Yash Chopra with Special Statue.” Times of India, January 28, 2017.
53 set cinemas on fire if his character dies in a film: Andrew Buncombe, “Meet India’s Biggest Film Star.” The Independent, October 2, 2010.
53 run for twenty-three weeks in one Tokyo cinema alone: Ashish Rajadhyaksha, “The Bollywoodization of the Indian Cinema: Cultural Nationalism in a Global Arena.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 4:1 (2003).
53 Amori con Turbanti, or “love with turbans”: Monica Acciari, “Harlequining Shah Rukh Khan Through Media Patches.” In Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood, p. 273.
54 has been screening it every single day since its release in 1995: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 131.
54 Cineplexes in London sold out shows of Dil Se: Ann R. David, “King of Bollywood? The Construction of a Globalised Image in Shah Rukh Khan’s Dance Choreography,” p. 282.
54 the first ever to reach the top 10 of a British film list: Raminder Kaur and Ajay J. Sinha, “Bollyworld: An Introduction to Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens.” In Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens, p. 18.
54 eighty separate cuts: Ann R. David, “King of Bollywood? The Construction of a Globalised Image in Shah Rukh Khan’s Dance Choreography,” p. 283; Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood; and Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 191.
54 first Bollywood film accepted to the Cannes Film Festival: Gyorgyi Vajdovich, “I Don’t Need to do this but You’ve Got to Have Passion,” p. 315.
54 281 print ads and another 200 commercials: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 160.
54 brands he had nothing to do with: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 160.
54 nearly 6 million euros toward the film’s expensive budget: Gyorgyi Vajdovich, “I Don’t Need to do this but You’ve Got to Have Passion,” p. 321.
55 this globalization would happen, most definitely”: “Rajeev Masand Interview with Brad Pitt and Shah Rukh Khan,” YouTube.
55 “Actually, he believes in a new ‘ism’ every day”: Sudhanva Deshpande, “The Consumable Hero of Globalised India.” In Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens, ed. Raminder Kaur and Ajay J. Sinha (Sage, 2005), p, 186.
55 became the number-one foreign language film in the UK: Anne Ciecko, “Superhit Hunk Heroes For Sale: Globalisation and Bollywood’s Gender Politics,” Asian Journal of Communication 11:2 (2001).
56 in Durban it ran longer than Titanic and was seen by more people: Thomas Blom Hansen, “In Search of the Diasporic Self: Bollywood in South Africa.” In Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens, p. 240.
56 “People identify with it and it conveys important themes of sacrifice, love, and non-violence”: Thomas Blom Hansen, “In Search of the Diasporic Self,” p. 252.
57 Arabic, Dutch, Spanish, and Hebrew: Priya Joshi, Bollywood’s India, p. 114.
57 The Supreme Court ruling: “Compulsory National Anthem verdict by SC: it started with Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham!” OpIndia, Nov. 30, 2016.
58 including nontraditional Bollywood markets like Syria, Puerto Rico, and Taiwan: Priya Joshi, Bollywood’s India, p. 114.
59 Khan featured in eleven: Rachel Dwyer, “Innocent Abroad: SRK, Karan Johar and the Indian Diasporic Romance,” p. 49. Raminder Kaur and Ajay J. Sinha, “Bollyworld: An Introduction to Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens.”
59 Khan was second on Forbes’s list of the wealthiest actors in the world: Nial McCarthy, “Bollywood: India’s Film Industry by the Numbers.”
59 licensed his catalogue of films to Netflix: “Shahrukh Khan signs Netflix deal; all his movies to be streamed on the service.” Financial Express, Dec. 15, 2016.
59 Bollywood, Pankaj Mishra told me, created the mood music for Narendra Modi: Interview with Pankaj Mishra, October 2, 2018, by email.
59 wiped 86 percent of Indian currency out: Zeeshan Aleem, “India banned 86 percent of its cash in November. It’s causing suffering for the poor.” Vox, Jan. 25, 2017.
59 caused a hundred deaths: “CMIE’s Mahesh Vyas says 3.5 million jobs lost due to demonetization.” Indian Express, Sept. 15, 2018.
59 called demonetization a disaster: Sohini C, “The triumph of Modi propaganda in Bollywood.” South China Morning Post, Feb. 5, 2019.
60 “a pat on the head and a promotion”: Nandini Ramnath, “Film review: Was ‘Commando 2’ written by the demonetisation brigade?” Scroll.in, March 3, 2017.
61 “COMPLETELY NON POLITICAL”: https://twitter.com/akshaykumar/status/1120701537821630464.
61 “Does our Prime Minister eat mangoes?”: “‘Mamata Didi Still Sends Kurtas She Picks Every Year’: PM To Akshay Kumar.” NDTV, April 24, 2019.
61 meeting RSS leaders: Subhash K Jha, “Exclusive: Is Akshay Kumar moving towards active politics?” Deccan Chronicle, June 12, 2017.
61 cannot vote in the Indian elections: Muskan Sharma, “Akshay, Alia, Jacqueline: Bollywood’s ‘Foreign’ Voters.” The Quint, April 29, 2019.
61 absent on voting day: “Akshay Kumar dodges question after he was criticised for not voting in Lok Sabha elections.” The Economic Times, May 1, 2019.
61 criticized and questioned: “Akshay Kumar’s Canadian clarification: Zor ka jhatka has everyone talking.” Entertainment Times, May 5, 2019.
61 “About the Canadian thing”: “Akshay Kumar’s Canadian clarification: Zor ka jhatka has everyone talking.” Times of India, May 5, 2019. “Is Akshay Kumar Really An ‘Honorary Citizen’ of Canada As He Claims?” Outlook, May 3, 2019.
61 six honorary citizenships: “Akshay Kumar’s Canadian clarification: Zor ka jhatka has everyone talking.” Times of India. “Akshay Kumar not listed as the Honorary Citizen of Canada; Did he apply for a Canadian citizenship?” Pinkvilla, May 3, 2019.
62 “What an explosive morning!”: Shruti Shiksha, “‘Bravo,’Tweet Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra And Other Stars After IAF Air Strikes On Terror Camp Across LoC.” NDTV, Feb. 27, 2019.
62 Priyanka Chopra: William Cole, “Priyanka Chopra is accused of ‘glorifying war’ with tweet supporting Indian army following country’s stand-off with Pakistan, as people call for her to be stripped of UN Goodwill role.” Daily Mail, March 1, 2019.
62 “Pakistan destruction is”: Fatima Bhutto, “Hashtags for War Between India and Pakistan.” New York Times, Feb. 27, 2019.
62 the BJP tweeted its trailer: Tanul Thakur, “When Bollywood Campaigned for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” The Wire, March 29, 2019.
63 “a hagiography for dummies”: Tanul Thakur, “When Bollywood Campaigned for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
63 dressed as Modi: “Vivek launches trailer as PM Modi.” Hindustan Times, March 20, 2019.
63 “I am a balanced person”: “‘Respect Bhakts, Critics’: Vivek Oberoi At PM Narendra Modi Trailer Launch.” NDTV, March 21, 2019
65 “I find this a very strange question, because no one can have a difference of opinion on terrorism”: “ShahRukh Khan’s Speech at ‘A Nation in Solidarity against Terror.’” YouTube, December 1, 2009.
65 Khan was publicly rebuked by a general secretary of the BJP: “Shah Rukh Khan in India, His Aatma in Pakistan: BJP Leader Kailash Vijayvarigiya.” Indian Express, November 4, 2015.
65 “a good initiative”: “Aamir Khan comes out in support of PM Modi’s demonetisation policy.” Entertainment Times, Jan. 29, 2017.
65 cost India 3.5 million jobs: “CMIE’s Mahesh Vyas says 3.5 million jobs lost due to demonetization.” The Indian Express, Sept. 15, 2018.
65 forty-five-year unemployment high: “Unemployment in India at 45-Year High After Demonetisation, Report Stalled by Centre Shows.” News 18, Feb. 1, 2019.
65 “I make use of card, be it debit or credit card, when we buy something”: “Aamir Khan Comes Out in Support of PM Modi’s Demonetisation Policy.” Times of India, January 29, 2017.
66 “the neighboring country”: “Karan Johar Says Goodbye To Pakistani Actors | Full Video Footage.” The Times of India, YouTube, Oct. 18, 2016.
66 amending the tagline from K3G: “Narendra Modi bombards Bollywood with democracy-loving tweets.” BBC News, March 13, 2019.
67 “he is a responsible citizen”: Raka Mukherjee, “Jaa Simran Jaa: PIB Uses ‘DDLJ’ Meme to Encourage Citizens to Vote in Lok Sabha Elections.” News 18, April 3, 2019.
67 Johar squeezed … Bachchan responded: “Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar And Others Respond To PM Modi’s Request To Help Bring Out The Vote.” NDTV, March 13, 2019.
67 wasn’t joining the BJP: “Not contesting Lok Sabha elections, says Salman Khan.” The Economic Times, March 22, 2019.
67 “We—as proud Indians”: “Shah Rukh Khan congratulates PM Narendra Modi: Proud Indians have chosen with great clarity.” India Today, May 24, 2019.
68 “Pakistan will never go to war with India is because Shah Rukh lives there”: Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood, p. 7.
68 “only person in Bollywood who has made two flop films with Shah Rukh Khan”: Interview with Mahesh Bhatt, May 21, 2017, by phone.
68 “What is so marvelous about the truth?”: Interview with Mahesh Bhatt, May 23, 2017, by phone.
CHAPTER FOUR
73 “I’m watching all your films,” I tell him: Interview with Shah Rukh Khan, April 18 and 19, 2017, Dubai.
86 “Shah Rukh Khan is an international star”: Interview with Haitham Marzouk, May 19, 2017, by phone.
CHAPTER FIVE
92 “But Shah Rukh Khan is not my favorite,” he confesses. “Rajinikanth is.”: Interview with Jhonn Freddy Bellido Martinez, November 27, 2017. Lima, Peru.
94 Patelji shakes his head, his Indian accent thick and untouched by Spanish: Interview with Jay Patel, November 27, 2017. Lima, Peru.
94 didn’t even have diplomatic relations: Petra Hirzer, “Fandom Beyond Borders and Boundaries: Peru in Love with SRK.” In Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood, p. 184.
94 no more than four hundred Indians live in the entire country: Interview with Arup Saha, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru.
95 “to feel empathy with the suffering of Christ”: Interview with Ricardo and Xenia Bedoya, December 2, 2017. Lima, Peru.
96 “We are a post-colonial society, so we have racism incorporated”: Interview with Felix Lossio, December 1, 2017. Lima, Peru.
97 Peru has ranked third in the world in the number of complaints regarding gender violence: “In Peru, Gender Violence and Femicides Up in 2017: Report.” Telesur TV, June 11, 2017.
100 pirated Bollywood films subtitled in Spanish: Interview with Misael Wadros Avalos, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru.
100 “Shah Rukh Khan prolonged my existence for five years”: Interview with Violeta Constantini, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru.
100 She nods her head in tragic confirmation: Interview with Gabriella Motta Yanez, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru.
101 her husband went off and named him without her: Interview with Katherine and Jhonz Flores Matta, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru.
102 “I don’t see Shah Rukh as a man I want to be with”: Interview with Marlid Gamarra Zavala, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru
103 “We love Aishwarya”: Interview with Angie Zusseth Yupangui Diaz, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru
104 “I am hard”: Interview with Wady Fulton Angulo Montoya, November 28, 2017. Lima, Peru.
CHAPTER SIX
113 [The military] overthrew multiple elected governments: Stephen Kinzer, Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2005), p. 176.
113 only one television channel, TRT: Kinzer, Crescent and Star, p. 168.
113 “After the tanks come the banks,” a foreign correspondent noted: Ece Temelkuran, Turkey: The Insane and the Melancholy (London: Zed Books Ltd., 2016). pp. 53–58.
114 Turkey is the second largest NATO army, after the United States: Stephen Kinzer, Crescent and Star, p. 172.
114 By the time Pakistan bought a series: Dr. Farooq Sulehria, “Why Turkish Soap Operas are a Hit in Pakistan.” TRT World, September 24, 2018.
115 more than 55 million sufficiently unoffended people watched the show’s finale: Sarmad Iqbal, “Turkish Soap Operas and their Rise in Pakistan will Leave a Legacy.” Parhlo, March 5, 2017.
CHAPTER SEVEN
118 “don’t call them soap operas”: Interview with Dr. Arzu Ozturkmen, March 12, 2018, Istanbul, Turkey.
118 watch an average of a full hour more: William Armstrong, “What a TV Series Tells us About Erdoğan’s Turkey.”
118 today Turkey is second only to America in worldwide TV distribution: “Global Success of Turkish TV Dramas Set to Continue Into 2018.” T-Vine, November 24, 2017.
119 which Russia bought in the 1980s and retitled Lovebird: Interview with Timur Savçi, March 13, 2018, Istanbul, Turkey.
119 though they didn’t find many takers then: Interview with Fatma Sapçi, March 12, 2018, Istanbul, Turkey.
119 In 2007, foreign sales of dizi only brought Turkey a grand total of $1 million: Nathan Williams, “The Rise of Turkish Soap Power.” BBC, June 28, 2013.
119 Ten years later, the value of dizi exports exceeded $350 million: “Turkish TV Series Exceed $350 Million in Exports.” Daily Sabah, January 3, 2018.
119 traditionally closed markets like China, Korea, and even NBC Universal: Alev Scott, Turkish Awakening: Behind the Scenes of Modern Turkey (Faber and Faber, 2014), p. 141.
119 today Chile is the largest consumer of dizi in terms of number of shows sold: Interview with Izzet Pinto, March 20, 2018, Istanbul Turkey.
119 Advertising seconds are cheap in Turkey: Interview with Eçe Yorenç, March 9, 2018.
119 can have up to fifty major characters: “The Sultan’s Reign Ends with a Bang.” Majalla, June 16, 2014.
120 “They also use real locations”: Interview with Tolga Kutluay, March 16, 2018, Istanbul Turkey.
120 “We tell at least two versions of the Cinderella story per year”: Interview with Eset, March 19, 2018, Istanbul, Turkey.
121 told me it all began with 2006’s Binbir Gece (1001 Nights): Interview with Izzet Pinto.
121 “the halal Brad Pitt”: Nathan Williams, “The Rise of Turkish Soap Power.”
122 people were rushing off to watch dizi during Ramadan: Alev Scott, Turkish Awakening, p. 124.
122 watched by 85 million people in the Middle East: Ibid.
122 close to eighty countries: Interview with Izzet Pinto.
122 claimed one-third of the country’s TV audience: Andrew Finkel, “Erdoğan, the Not So Magnificent.” New York Times, November 30, 2012.
122 The foreign press called it an “Ottoman-era Sex and the City”: William Armstrong, “What a TV Series Tells us About Erdoğan’s Turkey.” New York Times, May 14, 2017.
122–123 Every episode had up to three historical consultants: “The Sultan’s Reign Ends with a Bang.” Majalla, June 16, 2014.
123 once a concubine had a son, her loyalty to the sultan was divided: Leslie P. Peirce, “Empress of the East” (Basic Books, 2017). pp. 100, 6.
123 Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism even stopped charging certain Arab countries broadcasting fees: Alev Scott, Turkish Awakening, p. 121.
123 the show has been seen by over 500 million people worldwide: Interview with Izzet Pinto.
123 it became the first dizi ever bought by Japan: Interview with Selin Arat, March 13, 2018. Istanbul, Turkey.
123–124 Since 2002, more than 150 Turkish dizi have been sold to over 100 countries: William Armstrong, “What a TV Series Tells us About Erdoğan’s Turkey.”
124 They don’t touch “the feelings that make us human,” he told me: Interview with Halit Ergenç, March 14, 2018, Istanbul, Turkey.
125 the show rallied women from Argentina to Spain: Alex Marshall, “Can Netflix Take Turkey’s TV Dramas to the World?” New York Times, December 27, 2018.
125 edging out its closest competitor by over a hundred thousand: “Fatmagül Sets New Ratings Record in Spain.” TTV News, January 31, 2018.
125 scoring higher than Modern Family or The Big Bang Theory: Juan Fernandez Gonzalez, “Turkish soap opera sees success in Spain.” Rapid TV News, January 26, 2018.
125 the best ratings it had seen since 2015: Andy Fry, “Spain’s Atresmedia secures Turkish drama Ezel from Eccho.” Television Business International, April 16, 2018.
125 seven more dizi have followed on the back of its success: Pina Mezzera, “Spanish Fatmagül Remake for Antena 3 in the Works.” TTV News, February 11, 2019.
125 Fatmagül soon to get the full Telenovela treatment in Spain: Ibid.
126 killed by their husbands or boyfriends: “47 Women Killed in Turkey in February: Women’s Rights Group.” Hurriyet, March 5, 2018.
126 One out of every two women killed in Turkey since 2010: “Nearly 2,000 Women Killed in Eight Years in Turkey.” Hurriyet, November 26, 2017.
126–127 report calculated that 40 percent of Turkish women suffer domestic abuse: Ayla Jean Yackley, “Turkish Women Take to Streets to Demand Equality.” Al Monitor, March 8, 2018.
CHAPTER EIGHT
131 he wished “all religions [were] at the bottom of the sea”: Stephen Kinzer, Crescent and Star, p. 47.
131 emblematic of “hatred of progress and civilization”: Stephen Kinzer, Crescent and Star, p. 42.
131 “spectacle that makes the nation an object of ridicule”: Stephen Kinzer, Crescent and Star, p. 42.
132 Women in hijabs are almost never shown in television ads: Interview with Ece Temelkuran, May 4, 2019, Sydney, Australia.
132 “It would be life-threatening if we knew who they were”: Interview with Selin Arat.
134 they held more land in Europe than they did in Asia: Andrew Wheatcroft, “The Enemy at the Gate” (Pimlico, 2009), p. 5.
134 Lord Byron famously died fighting the Ottomans in Greece: Stephen Kinzer, Crescent and Star, p. 5.
134–135 The Ottomans had no word for “minority” in Turkish: Nicholas Pelham, Holy Lands: Reviving Pluralism in the Middle East (Columbia Global Reports, 2016), p. 7.
135 was Europe transformed from a “regional backwater”: Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads (Bloomsbury, 2015), p. xvii.
136 Erdoğan sold simit: Ayse Alibeyoglu, “From Street Seller to Global Businessman.” Al-Jazeera, June 13, 2011.
136 was a semi-professional football player: “Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Fast Facts,” CNN World, March 4, 2019.
136 “destroying the Turkish language”: “Turkish Should be Taught in Schools Erdoğan Says.” Hurriyet, March 15, 2018.
136 revived the teaching of Ottoman Turkish in schools: Ece Temelkuran, Turkey: The Insane and the Melancholy, p. 20.
137 Turkey’s humanitarian aid to Sudan exceeds that given by the United Nations: Suhaib Qalalwa, “Turkish Aid to Sudan Exceeds That of UN: Sudan Official.” Andalu Agency, November 6, 2017.
137 “again tie Sarajevo to Damascus, Benghazi to Erzurum and to Batumi”: Elif Batuman, “Ottomania.” The New Yorker, February 17–24, 2014.
137 “I am Sultan Suleiman,” the letter begins: Elif Batuman, “Ottomania.”
138 Cultural pundits scrambled to position Turkish culture: Alev Scott, Turkish Awakening, p. 122.
138 claimed to have received over 70,000 complaints: Susanne Fowler, “The Dirt, and the Soap, on the Ottoman Empire.” New York Times, March 17, 2011.
138 a parliamentary petition to legally ban the dizi: “AKP Deputy says Muhtesem Yüzyil Will Be Off Air in 2013.” Hurriyet, December 8, 2012.
139 the most popular show to air on state TV: Yeni Safak, “Erdoğan Praises Ertuğrul TV Series for Reacquainting World with Ottoman History.” Yenisafak.com news service, April 24, 2019.
139 who wore a Turkic hat for the occasion: “Maduro Visits Set of Turkish TV Series.” Hurriyet, July 11, 2018.
139 “Until the lions start writing their own stories”: William Armstrong, “What a TV Series Tells us About Erdoğan’s Turkey.”
139 tuned in as the sultan staved off rebellions: Aykan Erdemir and Oren Kessler, “A Turkish TV Blockbuster Reveals Erdogan’s Conspiratorial, Anti-Semitic Worldview.” Washington Post, May 15, 2017.
139–140 “The main reference point of this political movement is obedience”: Interview with Ece Temelkuran.
140 “or it could be the fact that this is about an Islamic state at the end of the day”: Interview with Timur Savçi.
141 a question of values or conservatism: Interview with Kivanç Tatlıtuğ, by email, April 18, 2018.
CHAPTER NINE
144 nearly half of them settling in the northern hamlet of Akkar: Interview with Joyce Rizk, August 22, 2017, Akkar, Lebanon.
144 has the largest per capita refugee population in the world: Eric Reidy, “Will Lebanon Force a Million Syrian Refugees to Return to a War Zone?” The Nation, January 24, 2018.
146 “But isn’t it more important to clear the sewage?”: Interview with Asma Abu Izzedine Rasamny, October 21, 2018, by phone.
146 “We were trying to teach them not to speak in a violent way, not to fight”: Interview with Sheikh Abdo, August 22, 2017, Akkar.
147 using the Arabic names for two Turkish dizi actors: Interview with Fatima and Muna, August 22, 2017, Akkar.
152 “I’m the one who opened Turkish culture through TV to the whole world”: Interview with Fadi Ismail, August 23, 2017, by phone.
155 “Americans have been conquering us with Mickey Mouse”: Interview with Elias el Haddad, August 21, 2017, Beirut.
155 it was fertile ground for the development of Arab nationalism: Philip Mansel, Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean (John Murray, 2011), p. 149.
155 “the despotism of the husband to the despotism of the Sultan”: Philip Mansel, Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean, p. 301.
156 Six dizi were pulled, costing MBC $25 million in losses: Ben Hubbard, David D. Kirkpatrick, Kate Kelly, and Mark Mazzeti, “Saudis Said to Use Coercion and Abuse to Seize Billions.” New York Times, March 12, 2018.
156 “I can’t confirm who took the decision”: “MBC Stops all Turkish TV Drama.” Al Jazeera, March 6, 2018.
156 were among those locked up in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton by the kingdom’s crown prince: Ben Hubbard, “Saudi Arabia Frees Media Mogul, but His Company’s Fate Remains a Mystery.” New York Times, January 26, 2018.
156 [he] found Waleed’s $3 billion asking price too high: Ibid.
156–157 “the sellers had been detained by the buyer”: Ben Hubbard, David D. Kirkpatrick, Kate Kelly, and Mark Mazzeti, “Saudis Said to Use Coercion and Abuse to Seize Billions.”
157 MBS was infuriated by Turkey’s brazen flouting of his 2017 blockade of Qatar: “Erdoğan to Saudi Crown Prince: You Don’t Own Islam.” Press TV, November 11, 2017.
157 “Islam can only be one thing”: “Erdoğan to Saudi Crown Prince: You Don’t Own Islam.”
157 included Turkey in what he bizarrely called a “triangle of evil”: “Erdoğan Trying to Build New ‘Ottoman Caliphate’—Saudi Crown Prince.” Ahval News, March 7, 2018.
158 but expects a digital future for the Middle East: Interview with Fatma Sapçi.
159 a family business, has kept the Mahmouds in dubbing and subtitling: Interview with Mohannad Mahmoud, August 23, 2017, Beirut, Lebanon.
160 “There’s a part of it that’s moda”: Interview with Rania Mroueh, August 23, 2017, Beirut, Lebanon.
EPILOGUE
162–163 to pique their interest in “Korean cool”: “Bang Bang Bang! The K-Pop Songs Being Blasted into North Korea.” The Guardian, January 8, 2016.
163 threatened to blow up all the speakers: Simeon Paterson, “Korean Loudspeakers: What are the North and South Shouting About?” BBC, January 12, 2016.
163 Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to attend a K-pop concert: Jim Michaels, “Kim Jong Un Likes K-pop Music, Banned in North Korea. That Could Be a Diplomatic Breakthrough.” USA Today, April 3, 2018.
163 the first non-Western country to “meaningfully export almost all its cultural forms”: Dal Yong-Jin, New Korean Wave (University of Illinois Press, 2016), L. 50.
163 the value of Korea’s cultural exports surpassed their cultural imports: Dal Yong-Jin, New Korean Wave, L. 127.
163 K-dramas were dubbed into indigenous languages like Guarani: “Imagining the Korean Wave’s Future in Iran.” Korea Daily Us, May 5, 2016.
163 are responsible for bringing Korea 1,200 percent more revenue: Euny Hong, The Birth of Korean Cool (Picador, 2014), p. 214.
163 global K-pop sales pull in $5 billion a year: Jim Michaels, “Kim Jong Un Likes K-pop Music, Banned in North Korea. That Could Be a Diplomatic Breakthrough.”
164 were watched 24 billion times on YouTube: Sohee Kim, “The $4.7 Billion K-pop Industry Chases Its ‘Michael Jackson Moment.’” Bloomberg, August 22, 2017.
165 became the first K-pop group to top the Billboard 100 charts: Xander Zellner, “BTS Becomes First K-Pop Act to Hit No. 1 on Billboard Artist 100 Chart.” Billboard, May 30, 2018.
165 Love Yourself: Tear became the first album sung in a non-English language to top American charts in twelve years: Benjamin Haas, “Korea’s Other Summit: K-pop Album Tops U.S. Charts for First Time.” The Guardian, May 28, 2018.
165 number one on iTunes in over sixty-five countries: Adele Roberts, “K-pop: Korea’s Secret Weapon.” BBC 1 Radio, January 18, 2018.
165 beat out Justin Bieber to win the Billboard Social Artists: AJ Willingham, “BTS! We Haven’t Seen Boy-Band Fandom Like This Since the Beatles.” CNN Entertainment, April 14, 2019.
165 “the goal is to produce the biggest stars in the world”: John Seabrook, “Factory Girls.”
165 South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana and North Korea: Euny Hong, The Birth of Korean Cool, p. 2.
165 it wasn’t until the 1970s that they slowly crept past their Northern neighbors: Bruce Cummings, “Korea’s Place in the Sun,” p. 316.
166 was invaded more than four hundred times: Euny Hong, The Birth of Korean Cool, p. 51.
166 the Koreans burned it to a crisp and killed all its crew: Bruce Cummings, “Korea’s Place in the Sun,” pp. 88, 97.
166 changed only after liberation from Japan in 1948: John Lie, K-pop: Pop Music, Cultural Amnesia and Economic Innovation in South Korea (University of California Press, 2015), pp. 19–20.
167 popular music of the last century has been “national music”: John Lie, K-pop, p. 111.
167 With no valuable resources or agricultural land: Euny Hong, The Birth of Korean Cool, p. 96.
168 Korea’s IMF bailout was the largest ever given at that point: Michael Breen, The New Koreans (Rider Books, 2017), p. 374.
168 “creating flexibilities in the labor market”: Bruce Cummings, “Korea’s Place in the Sun,” p. 334.
169 internet connections two hundred times faster than the average connection in North America: Euny Hong, The Birth of Korean Cool, p. 6.
170 to design and strictly monitor every aspect of their incubees’ lives: John Lie, K-pop, pp. 124–125.
170 “the exact hand gestures he or she should make and the camera angles to be used in the videos”: John Seabrook, “Factory Girls.”
171 “has more to do with Das Kapital than with Korean culture or tradition”: John Lie, K-pop, pp. 129, 141.
171 “I was one of the first halfies to come into SM”: Interview with Isak Kim, June 8, 2018, Seoul, South Korea.
172 may lead to unhealthy perceptions of beauty: Rob Picheta and Yoonjung Seo, “South Korea Government Backtracks After Saying K-Pop Stars Look ‘Too Similar.’” CNN World, February 20, 2019.
172 “In Korean they’re not called ‘artists’”: Interview with Ashley Choi, June 6, 2018, Seoul, South Korea.
172 Korea’s two military dictators often banned Korean songs for “thoughtlessly following foreign trends”: Mark James Russell, Pop Goes Korea, L. 3340.
172–173 the stock value of Psy’s father’s company doubled: Euny Hong, The Birth of Korean Cool, p. 27.
173 “it’s a public image thing”: Interview with Amber Liu, June 6, 2018, Seoul, Korea.
174 “Glocalization”: Interview with Ingyu Oh, June 10, 2018, Seoul, Korea.
174 “less of a band and more of an idea”: Tamar Herman, “Examining NCT and Its Various K-pop Units.” Billboard, September 2, 2017.
174 “NCT are the glocalization part of Cultural Technology”: Interview with Rachel Lee, June 7, 2018, Seoul, Korea.
175 “busiest North American touring seasons by Korean artists ever”: Tamar Herman, “NCT 127 Set to Tour North America for the First Time: Exclusive.” Billboard, February 19, 2019.
176 it took BTS all of one week to decimate both of Blackpink’s records: Todd Spangler, “Korea’s BTS Shatters YouTube Record for Views in 24 Hours With ‘Boy With Luv’ Featuring Halsey.” Variety, April 13, 2019.
176 China voiced its “strong dissatisfaction”: Lindsay Maizland, “The Surprising Reason Why China is Blocking South Korean Music Videos and TV.” Vox, March 3, 2017.
176 Hyundai’s sales dropped 64 percent in 2017’s second quarter: David Josef Volodero, “China Wins its War Against South Korea’s US THAAD Missile Shield Without Firing a Shot.” South China Morning Post, November 18, 2017.
177 had previously been the kings of China’s enormous beauty market: Song Jung-a, “South Korean Beauty Brands Lose a Little Glamour.” Financial Times, January 1, 2018.
177 the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan: George Gao, “Why is China So … Uncool?” Foreign Policy, August, 3, 2017.
177 China’s cultural exports amounted to nearly $90 billion: Sun Wenyu, “China’s Cultural Exports Hit $90 Billion in 2017.” People’s Daily, February 9, 2018.
177 Chinese streaming platforms claim audiences numbering between 500 and 700 million: Erica Martin, “China’s Music Industry to Break Through Internationally.” CKGSB Knowledge, February 13, 2018.
178 artists will want to break into China the way that they once sought to conquer America: Xinning Liu and Louise Lucas, “Western Artists Eye Changing Beat of China’s Music Market.” Financial Times, November 17, 2017.
178–179 Produce 101, the Chinese clone of a Korean idol show: He Keyao, “Popular Chinese Idol Survival Show Finds Success Through Fan Participation.” Global Times, April 18, 2018.
179 androgynous girl group: Marian Liu and Serenitie Wang, “China’s All Girl Boyband.” CNN, May 12, 2017.