The production of Ek Tha Tiger: A marriage of convenience between Bollywood and the Irish film and tourist industries

This article examines a collaboration between the Irish and Hindi film industries, adopting the production of Kabir Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012) in Dublin as a case study. It critically narrates the arc of the film’s production, foregrounding the intersecting concerns of Yash Raj Films and Irish creative and cultural institutions. Ek Tha Tiger represents Ireland through constructed idyllic images which proved to be successful in attracting tourists. Tracing the links between the production of the film and the promotion of tourism to Ireland, this article explains how the film was used to construct a ‘tourist gaze’ for audiences in a process reminiscent of Foucault’s notions of the power of surveillance (See “Discipline and Punish” and “Power/Knowledge”) as it acts through institutions of tourism. Drawing on participant observation in the film’s production, alongside interviews with the film’s producers and representatives of Irish institutions, the discussion explores how transnational marketing strategies influenced the production of Ek Tha Tiger.