Chhattisgarhi cinema

"Chhollywood" redirects here; not to be confused with Chollywood.

Chhollywood
Main distributors	Y.K.M. Brother Production House Sundrani Films N.MAHI FILMS

Chhattisgarhi Cinema also known as Chhollywood refers to the film industry of Chhattisgarh state, Central India, or to films created in the Chhattisgarhi language. It was established in 1965 with the release of the first Chhattisgarhi-language film, Kahi Debe Sandesh .

History

Kahi Debe Sandesh was released in 1965. Directed and produced by Manu Nayak, it was a story of intercaste love; its release caused controversy, with Brahmins calling for a ban. ^{[1] [2]} The next Chhattisgarhi film to be released was Ghar Dwar in 1971, produced by Vijay Kumar Pandey. However, both performed poorly at the box office. ^[3]

On October 27, 2000, Mor Chhainha Bhuinya was released, ^[4] the first Chhattisgarhi film since Ghar Dwar. The film was a major success, grossing over ₹20,000,000, recouping its budget of around ₹2,000,000. ^[5]

Interest in the genre would further increase in 2005 when Bhakla was released, featuring a song composed by Kalyan Sen and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. ^[6] Later, the film Bar. Satish Jain, having watched the film produced Mayaa, Films such as Mahun Deewana Tahun Deewani (Swapnil Film Productions) Tura Rikshawala, and Laila Tip Top Chhaila Angutha Chhap were released soon after.

Bhulan The Maze opened to international praise and won several awards. It become first Chhattisgarhi movie to win a National Film Awards, winning in category of Best Film in Chhattisgarhi at 67th National Film Awards.

Today Chhattisgarhi films often play in theatres outside of Chhattisgarh, especially in cities like Nagpur. Government of Chhattisgarh made film policy for supporting Chhattisgarhi cinema. However, the support structure in the form of subsidy is still unclear. The film makers are struggling to showcase their films due to lack of adequate number of cinema hall in the state. The film makers want help from state government to reach out smaller towns to increase viewership, as that will help recover the production cost. This is important as unlike in 2000s when only 4 to 5 films were made on avaerage per year, today 40 to 50 film are made per year. This has resulted in clash between films that is affecting their earnings. ^[7]

Notable people

Main article: List of Chhattisgarhi film actors

• Anuj Sharma (actor)
• Nitin Dubey
• Satish Jain

References

1. Ghosh, Avijit (30 April 2015). "When Indira saved first Chhattisgarhi film from ban". The Times of India'. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
2. Castes, India Committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled; Elayaperumal, L. (1969-01-01). Report of the Committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled Castes and Connected Documents, 1969. Department of Social Welfare. p.  37.
3. Ghosh, Avijit. "Chhollywood calling". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
4. "Mor Chhainha Bhuinya". IMDB. IMDB. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
5. "Chhattisgarhi film beats Mohabbatein". Rediff, archived on web archive. Archived from the original on 2013-10-01.
6. "लता मंगेशकर". Daink Bhaskar. 8 March 2013. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
7. "Chhattisgarhi film beats Mohabbatein". Rediff, archived on web archiveयुवा छॉलीवुड: फिल्मों की संख्या बढ़ी लेकिन सिनेमाघरों की कमी, प्रोड्यूसर को नुकसान, कागजों पर ही सरकारी नीति.