Saudi Arabia is intensifying its cultural outreach to India, placing Bollywood at the centre of its Vision 2030 strategy. The Kingdom is boosting film collaborations, hosting Indian artists, attracting Bollywood shoots, and expanding cultural agreements. With rising box office revenues and a large Indian diaspora, Riyadh aims to build a major creative economy with India as a key partner.
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia is stepping up its soft power outreach to India, with a special focus on Bollywood. The Kingdom recently hosted an “India Week” at the Global Harmony Initiative run by the Saudi Ministry of Media, where Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor performed. According to Indian embassy officials, cultural exchanges between the two countries have grown rapidly, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan.
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A senior diplomat said that as Saudi Arabia shifts towards a post-oil economy, it wants to build a creative economy where revenue can come from film and music festivals, and Bollywood is expected to play a major role in that transition. Saudi Arabia’s push towards Bollywood has been developing for several years.
In 2022, Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan Al Saud visited India to explore possible collaborations in cinema. In a tweet, he described his meetings with Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan as “fruitful”, adding that they discussed opportunities for partnerships between Saudi and Indian cinema. Since then, several Bollywood films have used Saudi Arabia as a shooting location. Parts of Shah Rukh Khan’s 2023 film Dunki were filmed in Neom and Jeddah.
Tiger Shroff’s upcoming action film Baaghi 4 shot sequences in Riyadh and even held its premiere there. The influence goes both ways. The Saudi film industry is now attracting Indian stars, with Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt making cameos in 7 Dogs, a Saudi action thriller inspired by the Hollywood film Bad Boys, which is set to release later this year. Top Bollywood filmmakers are also showing interest in Saudi collaborations.
At the Red Sea International Film Festival, director Kabir Khan said that Indo-Saudi joint film projects were possible, noting that the large Indian diaspora in the Gulf region is a strong supporter of Bollywood. Referring to his film 83, he said the Gulf audience continues to celebrate India’s 1983 Cricket World Cup victory even decades later.
Cultural cooperation between the two countries has expanded beyond film. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in April this year led to the creation of a new ministerial committee on Tourism and Cultural Cooperation. This expanded the India-Saudi Partnership Council from two committees on political and economic cooperation to four, adding defence and cultural cooperation. Saudi Arabia has made several symbolic cultural gestures in recent years. Yoga was declared a national sport in 2017, and Saudi yoga instructor Nouf Al Marwaai received India’s Padma Shri in 2018. Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan performed in the Kingdom in February this year.
During the recently held “India Week”, many Indian artisans were invited to participate, highlighting the seriousness with which the Kingdom is pursuing cultural ties. An MoU on cultural cooperation was signed on November 9 this year between India’s Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Farhan. Despite these wider initiatives, analysts believe that Bollywood will remain the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s cultural strategy. A report by Strategic Gears, one of the Kingdom’s largest management consultancy firms, shows why.
Saudi Arabia recorded the highest box office revenues in the Middle East in 2024, accounting for 42% of the region’s total. Ticket sales have surged from $10.3 million in 2018 to $233.3 million in 2021, reaching around $248.9 million last year. While revenue figures for Indian films in Saudi Arabia are not yet available, the presence of an estimated 2.7 million-strong Indian diaspora is expected to significantly boost ticket sales. The heavy turnout of Saudis at the Global Harmony Initiative also suggests that Bollywood has a growing appeal in the Kingdom and could support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals.
Saudi Film Commission CEO Abdullah Al-Ayaf Al-Qahtani told local media that the Kingdom expects strong cooperation with India’s film industry. He said Saudi Arabia, with its growing infrastructure, talent and development, is ready to become an attractive location for filmmakers worldwide. He added that the Kingdom hopes Indo-Saudi collaboration will help further develop its emerging film sector.
