When Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham was first shown in German cinemas in 2003, a true Bollywood boom began. Since then, productions from Indian mainstream cinema have even established themselves in German television programming. Given the vibrantly staged choreographies, few viewers are likely to think of India's political past, which was under nearly 200 years of British colonial rule. Indian cinema can be described as a "child of colonialism." Even Dadasaheb Phalke, the "father of Indian cinema," recognized the importance of Indian filmmaking for the goal of political self-determination. In 1921, an Indian film was classified as anti-British for the first time and banned. Against this historical backdrop, the question arises of how the former colonial power, Great Britain, responded.