A passage to India: The Indian film market and the political economy of Disney’s transnational operations

This study analyses Disney’s operations in the Indian film market through its subsidiary, UTV Motion Pictures, during earlier decades. Scholarship in the critical political economy has ignored how transnational media corporations make inroads into profitable markets. The present study addresses this critical gap by examining Disney’s expansion strategies in the Indian culture market. The analysis reveals that Disney has increased its influence in the Indian entertainment sphere by following the capitalistic logic of profit maximisation at the expense of local production, distribution and consumption of entertainment products. The study discusses the future research agenda for critical political economy theory.