WikiConference India 2011/Submissions/Bollypedia

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Title of the submission: Bollypedia- Archiving Bollywood for Eternity

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, presentation): Presentation

Author of the submission: Zara Chowdhary

E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences): zarachowdhary@gmail.com

Country of origin (State if India is the country of origin): Maharashtra, India

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.): NIL

Personal homepage or blog: www.theweddingfilmer.co.in

Abstract (in 500 words): With a reach that is becoming increasingly global and a marked hike in interest in all things Bollywood post Slumdog Millionaire, it still surprises me how Bollywood itself doesn't give too much importance to making its films more wiki-friendly. Our films, filmmakers, talent etc aren't listed on Wikipedia half the time, if they are, the grammar makes no sense and if it does its just a 3 line excerpt from a lazily written, boring press release that holds no hook for the reader whatsoever. So how is a foreigner, with no idea of our cinema to take us seriously? How are we, an industry that produces almost 900 films a year any different from other comparatively insignificant Asian film societies who can't be bothered promoting or capturing the attention of potential viewers/fans on Wiki knowing fully well, almost every computer-using human on this planet visits wikipedia at least once a month (citation needed :D)?

My talk would be to try and bring some format to a Bollywood based community and group of contributors in a country that eats, breathes and sleeps its cinema which can piece together this colorful jigsaw that is Bollywood, making it easier for the world to understand us and hopefully take us more seriously.

If not, wiki will at least offer Indians an eternal archive of its enigmatic and alluring cinematic history in a structure that is more easy to access, navigate and understand and will bring some coherence to what otherwise seems like a modern version of The Great Indian circus at the moment.

Track (Community/Knowledge/Outreach/Technology): ~~Community~~ Knowledge
Will you attend Wikiconference if your submission is not accepted?: Yes.
Slides or further information (optional): NA