Bollywood beyond borders: How stars become cultural diplomats

As the Covid-19 pandemic raged on in 2021, at a time when India was suffering its highest number of daily deaths and ties between India and China had frayed due to clashes over the disputed border, the Chinese Communist Party posted a picture on its Weibo account mocking funeral pyres in India, juxtaposing them against an image of a recent Chinese rocket launch.

The caption read: “Lighting a fire in China vs. lighting a fire in India” (see Figure 1). Surprisingly, the post generated backlash from Chinese netizens who were appalled at the party’s insensitivity, and the post was promptly taken down and followed by announcements of Chinese support for India. The messages of understanding for the Indian people appeared to be primarily driven by Aamir Khan’s immense stardom in China. Weibo users noted that Khan was among the first to express support for China during the early phase of the outbreak.

On other platforms, such as Zhihu (Chinese Reddit), audiences had expressed deep empathy for Indians and Khan when he contracted Covid19 a few months earlier, hoping “that Aamir Khan will recover soon, that 1.3 billion Indians will achieve collective immunity after vaccination as soon as possible”, underscoring Khan’s impact in shaping audience…

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