US looks up to Bollywood to help peace bids: WikiLeaks

LONDON: The US has been courting India's soft power in the form of Bollywood as part of its plans to help usher in peace in war-torn Afghanistan and also help promote anti-extremism messages among the large Asian diaspora across the globe.

US cables released by WikiLeaks acknowledge Bollywood's global appeal, and point to its growing role in US planning to promote anti-extremism across the world and peace in Afghanistan.

Bollywood's growing global appeal is evidence not just in popular migration destinations such as Britain and US, but also in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere, it said.

It is seen as India's top cultural export item and the fulcrum of India's soft power.

A US cable from March 2007 says that high-profile Bollywood actors could play a key role in Afghanistan.

"We understand Bollywood movies are wildly popular in Afghanistan, so willing Indian celebrities could be asked to travel to Afghanistan to help bring attention to social issues there," it said.

US diplomats in New Delhi described India as Afghanistan's "natural ally".

According to them, the international community should use India's vast and trained human resources and expertise to build capacity in areas including the civil service and electoral bodies.

Another cable from October 2007 revealed that leading Bollywood actors were interested in participating in a US plan to promote anti-extremist messages 'through third party actors'.

The cable, sent by the London embassy, reported on a visit to Britain by two US officials, Farah Pandith, senior adviser for Muslim engagement, and Jared Cohen, described as 'S/P Member'.

According to the cable, one of the meetings the two officials had was with individuals connected with the Indian film industry.

These included included Director of Arts Versa Mohsin Abbas, Channel 4 TV Head of Multicultural Programming Farouk Dhondi, Producer Director Mahmood Jamal, Locations Manager Amjad Khan, and singer/actress Humeira Akhter, "who has strong links with top Bollywood actors/actresses".

The cable says: "On October 10, Pandith and Cohen met with a cross section of the South Asian community working in film to discuss the potential of working with the Indian film industry - "Bollywood" - on delivering an anti-terrorism message."

A lively discussion produced a number of possible ideas, including developing ways to promote existing anti-terrorist films, and to develop funds for similar productions.

It adds: "Once such an anti-extremist genre is established, participants believed that major Bollywood figures would be willing to speak out on the issue. Humaira Akhtar has already gotten back to Pandith on possible stars in Bollywood interested in such a project."

The cable summary says: "Bollywood actors and executives agreed to work with the USG to promote anti-extremist messages through third party actors and were excited about the idea of possibly partnering with Hollywood as well."