Bollywood and the Indian Premier League (IPL): the political economy of Bollywood's new blockbuster

Abstract

This paper interrogates the interrelationships between sports and popular culture to facilitate an understanding of the converging areas between political and economic forces and cultural practices operative in the global marketplace. Using a critical political economy approach, it examines the innovatively formatted and media-friendly Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament and the Bolly-wood stars who are involved as owners and promoters of the league. The profit-generating capacity of cricket has increased the interest of the corporate sector and the entertainment industries, resulting in the spectaclization, commercializa-tion, and corporatization of the popular sport.