Convergence Technology Comes Of Age

The growing convergence of Eastern and Western influences is best exemplified by the cameo role which rapper Snoop Dogg has in the new Bollywood musical Singh Is Kinng, which opened this month. Dressed In crimson Punjabi shirt, Sikh turban and sherwani, the man once dubbed ‘America’s Most Lovable Pimp’ performs the title track, rapping alongside Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar — and in so doing becomes the first mainstream American artist to perform on a Bollywood soundtrack.

Entertainment technology, like music culture, is also converging rapidly. With India's economy booming (thanks to a rapidly growing middle class), and its glossy films commanding the devotion of millions of consumers, IIR Exhibitions have again chosen the film industry’s epicentre — Mumbai — as the location for its third PALME India expo.

India is the largest film producing country in the world. Statistics as far back as 2006 showed the Bollywood film industry to be worth USD $1.8 billion, with 3.7 billion tickets sold to Bollywood movie buffs that year.

The decision to keep PALME India in Mumbai was not taken lightly — and then only after a strong case had been made for moving the continent’s premier integrated entertainment technology show to India’s administrative capital of Delhi.

“We undertook a significant amount of research, but overwhelmingly the response was positive towards Mumbai – India’s entertainment and investment capital,” said Exhibition Manager, James Raffoul.

At the same time he expressed his hope that given the sub-continent's fast-developing commercial infrastructure — particularly hotels, houses of worship and shopping malls — the show would attract technology providers, specifiers and consultants from right across the country when the three-day event opens its doors on October 3rd at the Bombay Exhibition Centre.

“While the Bollywood film industry is the central entertainment focus, the events industry also continues to record dramatic growth,” he notes. “In addition, the growing number of luxury hotels, sports complexes and shopping malls all require a cutting-edge technology infrastructure and communication systems. “This is fuelling the demand for professional sound, light, music, audio visual as part of full system integrations.” And PALME India, he promises, has evolved to meet these demands.