Indian cinema is composed of multilingual and multi-ethnic film art. The term 'Bollywood', often mistakenly used to refer to Indian cinema as a whole, is only the Hindi-language segment, with Indian cinema being an umbrella term that includes various film industries, each offering films in diverse languages and styles.
In 2021, Telugu cinema emerged as the largest film industry in India in terms of box office.[31][32] In 2022, Hindi cinema represented 33% of box office revenue, followed by Telugu representing 20%, Tamil representing 16%, Kannada representing 8%, and Malayalam representing 6%.[33][34] Other prominent film industries are Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, and Odia cinema.[33][34] As of 2022, the combined revenue of South Indian film industries has surpassed that of the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry (Bollywood).[35][36] As of 2022, Telugu cinema leads Indian cinema with 23.3 crore (233 million) tickets sold, followed by Tamil cinema with 20.5 crore (205 million) and Hindi cinema with 18.9 crore (189 million).[37][33]
Indian cinema is a global enterprise,[38] and its films have attracted international attention and acclaim throughout South Asia.[39] Since talkies began in 1931, Hindi cinema has led in terms of box office performance, but in recent years it has faced stiff competition from Telugu cinema.[40][32] Overseas Indians account for 12% of the industry's revenue.[41]
History
The history of cinema in India extends to the beginning of the film era. Following the screening of the Lumière and Robert Paul moving pictures in London in 1896, commercial cinematography became a worldwide sensation and these films were shown in Bombay (now Mumbai) that same year.[42]
Silent era (1890s–1920s)
In 1897, a film presentation by filmmaker Professor Stevenson featured a stage show at Calcutta's Star Theatre. With Stevenson's camera and encouragement, Indian photographer Hiralal Sen filmed scenes from that show, exhibited as The Flower of Persia (1898).[43]The Wrestlers (1899), by H. S. Bhatavdekar, showing a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in Bombay, was the first film to be shot by an Indian and the first Indian documentary film.[citation needed] From 1913 to 1931, all the movies made in India were silent films, which had no sound and had intertitles.[44]
Although some claim Shree Pundalik (1912) of Dadasaheb Torne is the first ever film made in India.[51][52][50] Some film scholars have argued that Pundalik was not a true Indian film because it was simply a recording of a stage play, filmed by a British cameraman and it was processed in London.[53][54][49]Raja Harishchandra of Phalke had a story based on Hindu Sanskrit legend of Harishchandra, a truthful King and its success led many to consider him a pioneer of Indian cinema.[50] Phalke used an all Indian crew including actors Anna Salunke and D. D. Dabke. He directed, edited, processed the film himself.[49] Phalke saw The Life of Christ (1906) by the French director Alice Guy-Blaché, While watching Jesus on the screen, Phalke envisioned Hindu deities Rama and Krishna instead and decided to start in the business of "moving pictures".[55]
Films steadily gained popularity across India as affordable entertainment for the masses (admission as low as an anna [one-sixteenth of a rupee] in Bombay).[42] Young producers began to incorporate elements of Indian social life and culture into cinema, others brought new ideas from across the world. Global audiences and markets soon became aware of India's film industry.[61]
In 1927, the British government, to promote the market in India for British films over American ones, formed the Indian Cinematograph Enquiry Committee. The ICC consisted of three British and three Indians, led by T. Rangachari, a Madras lawyer.[62] This committee failed to bolster the desired recommendations of supporting British Film, instead recommending support for the fledgling Indian film industry, and their suggestions were set aside.
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala made his first film Joymoti (1935) in Assamese, and later made Indramalati.[citation needed] The first film studio in South India, Durga Cinetone, was built in 1936 by Nidamarthi Surayya in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh.[70][contradictory] The advent of sound to Indian cinema launched musicals such as Indra Sabha and Devi Devyani, marking the beginning of song-and-dance in Indian films.[50] By 1935, studios emerged in major cities such as Madras, Calcutta and Bombay as filmmaking became an established industry, exemplified by the success of Devdas (1935).[71] The first colour film made in India was Kisan Kanya (1937, Moti B).[72]Viswa Mohini (1940) was the first Indian film to depict the Indian movie-making world.[73]
Swamikannu Vincent, who had built the first cinema of South India in Coimbatore, introduced the concept of "tent cinema" in which a tent was erected on a stretch of open land to screen films. The first of its kind was in Madras and called Edison's Grand Cinema Megaphone. This was due to the fact that electric carbons were used for motion picture projectors.[74][further explanation needed]Bombay Talkies opened in 1934 and Prabhat Studios in Pune began production of Marathi films.[71]Sant Tukaram (1936) was the first Indian film to be screened at an international film festival,[contradictory] at the 1937 edition of the Venice Film Festival. The film was judged one of the three best films of the year.[75] However, while Indian filmmakers sought to tell important stories, the British Raj banned Wrath (1930) and Raithu Bidda (1938) for broaching the subject of the Indian independence movement.[50][76][77]
The Indian Masala film—a term used for mixed-genre films that combined song, dance, romance, etc.—arose following the Second World War.[71] During the 1940s, cinema in South India accounted for nearly half of India's cinema halls, and cinema came to be viewed as an instrument of cultural revival.[71] The Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), an art movement with a communist inclination, began to take shape through the 1940s and the 1950s.[78] IPTA plays, such as Nabanna (1944), prepared the ground for realism in Indian cinema, exemplified by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas's Dharti Ke Lal (Children of the Earth, 1946).[78] The IPTA movement continued to emphasise realism in films Mother India (1957) and Pyaasa (1957), among India's most recognisable cinematic productions.[79]
Following independence, the 1947 partition of India divided the nation's assets and a number of studios moved to Pakistan.[71] Partition became an enduring film subject thereafter.[71] The Indian government had established a Films Division by 1948, which eventually became one of the world's largest documentary film producers with an annual production of over 200 short documentaries, each released in 18 languages with 9,000 prints for permanent film theatres across the country.[80]
Golden Age (late 1940s–1960s)
Satyajit Ray is recognised as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century.
During the 1950s, Indian cinema reportedly became the world's second largest film industry, earning a gross annual income of ₹250 million (equivalent to ₹26billionorUS$320million in 2023) in 1953.[97] The government created the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) in 1960 to provide financial support to filmmakers.[98] While serving as Information and Broadcasting Minister of India in the 1960s, Indira Gandhi supported the production of off-beat cinema through the FFC.[98]
Baburao Patel of Filmindia called B. N. Reddy's Malliswari (1951) an "inspiring motion picture" which would "save us the blush when compared with the best of motion pictures of the world".[99] Film historian Randor Guy called Malliswari scripted by Devulapalli Krishnasastri a "poem in celluloid, told with rare artistic finesse, which lingers long in the memory".[100]
Commercial Hindi cinema began thriving, including acclaimed films Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959, Guru Dutt) Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955, Raj Kapoor). These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban life in India; Awaara presented Bombay as both a nightmare and a dream, while Pyaasa critiqued the unreality of city life.[87]
By 1986, India's annual film output had increased to 833 films annually, making India the world's largest film producer.[121] Hindi film production of Bombay, the largest segment of the industry, became known as "Bollywood".
Summary of the 2022 box office revenues.
Hindi (33%)
Telugu (20%)
Tamil (16%)
Kannada (8%)
Malayalam (6%)
Other (17%)
By 1996, the Indian film industry had an estimated domestic cinema viewership of 600million people, establishing India as one of the largest film markets, with the largest regional industries being Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films.[122] In 2001, in terms of ticket sales, Indian cinema sold an estimated 3.6billion tickets annually across the globe, compared to Hollywood's 2.6billion tickets sold.[123][124]
Hindi
Realistic parallel cinema continued throughout the 1970s,[125] practised in many Indian film cultures. The FFC's art film orientation came under criticism during a Committee on Public Undertakings investigation in 1976, which accused the body of not doing enough to encourage commercial cinema.[126]
By the early 1970s, Hindi cinema was experiencing thematic stagnation,[129] dominated by musical romance films.[130] Screenwriter duo Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) revitalised the industry.[129] They established the genre of gritty, violent, Bombay underworldcrime films with Zanjeer (1973) and Deewaar (1975).[131][132] They reinterpreted the rural themes of Mother India and Gunga Jumna in an urban context reflecting 1970s India,[129][133] channelling the growing discontent and disillusionment among the masses,[129] unprecedented growth of slums[134] and urban poverty, corruption and crime,[135] as well as anti-establishment themes.[136] This resulted in their creation of the "angry young man", personified by Amitabh Bachchan,[136] who reinterpreted Kumar's performance in Gunga Jumna[129][133] and gave a voice to the urban poor.[134]
By the mid-1970s, Bachchan's position as a lead actor was solidified by crime-action films Zanjeer and Sholay (1975).[126] The devotional classic Jai Santoshi Ma (1975) was made on a low budget and became a box office success and a cult classic.[126] Another important film was Deewaar (1975, Yash Chopra),[105] a crime film with brothers on opposite sides of the law which Danny Boyle described as "absolutely key to Indian cinema".[137]
Sridevi (2012) was regarded as the most popular female star in Indian cinema.
In the late 1990s, there was a resurgence of parallel cinema in Bollywood, largely due to the critical and commercial success of crime films such as Satya (1998) and Vaastav (1999). These films launched a genre known as "Mumbai noir",[149] reflecting social problems in the city.[150]Ram Gopal Varma directed the Indian Political Trilogy, and the Indian Gangster Trilogy; film critic Rajeev Masand had labelled the latter series as one of the "most influential movies of Bollywood.[151][152][153] The first instalment of the trilogy, Satya, was also listed in CNN-IBN's 100 greatest Indian films of all time.[154]
Haider (2014, Vishal Bhardwaj), the third instalment of the Indian Shakespearean Trilogy after Maqbool (2003) and Omkara (2006),[161] won the People's Choice Award at the 9th Rome Film Festival in the Mondo Genere making it the first Indian film to achieve this honour.[162][relevant?]
Salim–Javed were highly influential in South Indian cinema. In addition to writing two Kannada films, many of their Bollywood films had remakes produced in other regions, including Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam cinema. While the Bollywood directors and producers held the rights to their films in Northern India, Salim–Javed retained the rights in South India, where they sold remake rights for films such as Zanjeer, Yaadon Ki Baarat and Don.[163] Several of these remakes became breakthroughs for actor Rajinikanth.[130][164]
Sridevi is widely regarded as the first female superstar of Indian cinema due to her pan-Indian appeal with equally successful careers in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu cinema. She is the only Bollywood actor to have starred in a top 10 grossing film each year of her active career (1983–1997).[citation needed]
Telugu
K. V. Reddy's Mayabazar (1957) is a landmark film in Indian cinema, a classic of Telugu cinema that inspired generations of filmmakers. It blends myth, fantasy, romance and humour in a timeless story, captivating audiences with its fantastical elements. The film excelled in various departments like cast performances, production design, music, cinematography and is particularly revered for its use of technology.[165][166] The use of special effects, innovative for the 1950s, like the first illusion of moonlight, showcased technical brilliance.. Powerful performances and relatable themes ensure Mayabazar stays relevant, a classic enjoyed by new generations. On the centenary of Indian cinema in 2013, CNN-IBN included Mayabazar in its list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time".[167] In a poll conducted by CNN-IBN among those 100 films, Mayabazar was voted by the public as the "Greatest Indian film of all time."[168]
Ram Gopal Varma's Siva (1989), which attained cult following[182] introduced steadicams and new sound recording techniques to Indian films.[183]Siva attracted the young audience during its theatrical run, and its success encouraged filmmakers to explore a variety of themes and make experimental films.[184] Varma introduced road movie and film noir to Indian screen with Kshana Kshanam (1991).[185] Varma experimented with close-to-life performances by the lead actors, which bought a rather fictional storyline a sense of authenticity at a time when the industry was being filled with commercial fillers.[186]
Singeetam Srinivasa Rao introduced time travel to the Indian screen with Aditya 369 (1991). The film dealt with exploratory dystopian and apocalyptic themes, taking the audience through a post-apocalyptic experience via time travel and folklore from 1526 CE, including a romantic subplot.[187] Singeetam Srinivasa Rao was inspired by the classic sci-fi novel The Time Machine.[188][189][190]
S.S Rajamouli has been described as "the biggest Indian film director ever" and "India's most significant director today".
Pan-Indian film is a term related to Indian cinema that originated with Telugu cinema as a mainstream commercial film appealing to audiences across the country with a spread to world markets.[197]S. S. Rajamouli pioneered the pan-Indian films movement with duology of epic action films Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), that changed the face of Indian cinema. Baahubali: The Beginning became the first Indian film to be nominated for American Saturn Awards.[198] It received national and international acclaim for Rajamouli's direction, story, visual effects, cinematography, themes, action sequences, music, and performances, and became a record-breaking box office success.[199] The sequel Baahubali 2 (2017) went on to win the American "Saturn Award for Best International Film" & emerged as the second-highest-grossing Indian film of all time.[200][201]
S.S Rajamouli followed up with the alternate historical film RRR (2022) that received universal critical acclaim for its direction, screenwriting, cast performances, cinematography, soundtrack, action sequences and VFX, which further consolidated the Pan-Indian film market. The film was considered one of the ten best films of the year by the National Board of Review, making it only the seventh non-English language film ever to make it to the list.[202] It also became the first Indian film by an Indian production to win an Academy Award.[203] The film went on to receive several other nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, Critics' Choice Movie Award including Best Foreign Language Film.[204] Films like Pushpa: The Rise, Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire and Kalki 2898 AD have further contributed to the pan-Indian film wave.
Actors like Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. enjoy a nationwide popularity among the audiences after the release of their respective Pan-Indian films. Film critics, journalists and analysts, such as Baradwaj Rangan and Vishal Menon, have labelled Prabhas as the "first legit Pan-Indian Superstar".[205]
Hindi cinema has been remaking Telugu films since the late 1940s, some of which went on to become landmark films. Between 2000 and 2019, one in every three successful films made in Hindi was either a remake or part of a series. And most of the star actors, have starred in the hit remakes of Telugu films.[206]
Tamil
Tamil cinema established Madras (now Chennai) as a secondary film production centre in India, used by Hindi cinema, other South Indian film industries, and Sri Lankan cinema.[207] Over the last quarter of the 20th century, Tamil films from India established a global presence through distribution to an increasing number of overseas theatres.[208][209] The industry also inspired independent filmmaking in Sri Lanka and Tamil diaspora populations in Malaysia, Singapore, and the Western Hemisphere.[210]
Marathi cinema also known as Marathi film industry, is a film industry based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is the oldest film industry of India. The first Marathi movie, Raja Harishchandra of Dadasaheb Phalke was made in 1912, released in 1913 in Girgaon, it was a silent film with Marathi-English intertitles made with full Marathi actors and crew, after the film emerged successful, Phalke made many movies on Hindu mythology.
In 1932, the first sound film, Ayodhyecha Raja was released, just five years after 1st Hollywood sound film The Jazz Singer (1927). The first Marathi film in colour, Pinjara (1972), was made by V. Shantaram. In 1960s–70s movies was based on rural, social subjects with drama and humour genre, Nilu Phule was prominent villain that time. In 1980s, M. Kothare and Sachin Pilgaonkar made many hit movies on thriller, and comedy genre respectively. Ashok Saraf and Laxmikant Berde starred in many of these and emerged as top actors. Mid-2000s onwards, the industry frequently made hit movies.[44][49][240]
Cultural context
Victoria Public Hall, Chennai, served as a theatre in the late 19th century and the early 20th century.Prasads IMAX Theatre, Hyderabad, was once the world's largest 3D-IMAX screen and the most attended screen in the world.Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, is the world's largest film studio.PVR Cinemas is one of the largest cinema chains in India.
K. Moti Gokulsing and Wimal Dissanayake identified six major influences that have shaped Indian popular cinema:[245]
The ancient epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana influenced the narratives of Indian cinema. Examples of this influence include the techniques of a side story, back-story and story within a story. Indian popular films often have plots that branch into sub-plots; such narrative dispersals can be seen in the 1993 films Khalnayak and Gardish.
Ancient Sanskrit drama, with its emphasis on spectacle, music, dance and gesture combined "to create a vibrant artistic unit with dance and mime being central to the dramatic experience". Sanskrit dramas were known as natya, derived from the root word nrit (dance), featuring spectacular dance-dramas.[246] The Rasa method of performance, dating to ancient times, is one of the fundamental features that differentiate Indian from Western cinema. In the Rasa method, the performer conveys emotions to the audience through empathy, in contrast to the Western Stanislavski method where the actor must become "a living, breathing embodiment of a character". The rasa method is apparent in the performances of Hindi actors such as Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan and in Hindi films such as Rang De Basanti (2006),[247] and Ray's works.[248]
Traditional folk theatre, which became popular around the 10th century with the decline of Sanskrit theatre. These regional traditions include the Yatra of West Bengal, the Ramlila of Uttar Pradesh, Yakshagana of Karnataka, 'Chindu Natakam' of Andhra Pradesh and the Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu.
Parsi theatre, which blends realism and fantasy, containing crude humour, songs and music, sensationalism, and dazzling stagecraft.[246] These influences are clearly evident in masala films such as Coolie (1983), and to an extent in more recent critically acclaimed films such as Rang De Basanti.[247]
Hollywood-made popular musicals from the 1920s through the 1960s, though Indian films used musical sequences as another fantasy element in the song-and-dance tradition of narration, undisguised and "intersect[ing] with people's day-to-day lives in compelex and interesting ways."[249]
Western music videos, particularly MTV, had an increasing influence in the 1990s, as can be seen in the pace, camera angles, dance sequences, and music of recent Indian films. An early example of this approach was Bombay (1995, Mani Ratnam).[250]
Sharmistha Gooptu and Bhaumik identify Indo-Persian/Islamicate culture as another major influence. In the early 20th century, Urdu was the lingua franca of popular performances across northern India, established in performance art traditions such as nautch dancing, Urdu poetry and Parsi theatre. Urdu and related Hindi dialects were the most widely understood across northern India, thus Hindustani became the standardised language of early Indian talkies. One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) had a strong influence on Parsi theatre, which adapted "Persianate adventure-romances" into films, and on early Bombay cinema where "Arabian Nights cinema" became a popular genre.[251]
During colonial rule, Indians bought film equipment from Europe.[61] The British funded wartime propaganda films during the Second World War, some of which showed the Indian army pitted against the Axis powers, specifically the Empire of Japan, which had managed to infiltrate India.[252] One such story was Burma Rani, which depicted civilian resistance to Japanese occupation by British and Indian forces in Myanmar.[252] Pre-independence businessmen such as J. F. Madan and Abdulally Esoofally traded in global cinema.[50]
Many Asian and South Asian countries increasingly found Indian cinema more suited to their sensibilities than Western cinema.[253]Jigna Desai holds that by the 21st century, Indian cinema had become 'deterritorialised', spreading to parts of the world where Indian expatriates were present in significant numbers and had become an alternative to other international cinema.[267]
Indian films frequently appeared in international fora and film festivals.[253] This allowed parallel Bengali filmmakers to achieve worldwide fame.[268]
Indian cinema more recently began influencing Western musical films, and played a particularly instrumental role in the revival of the genre in the Western world. Ray's work had a worldwide impact, with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese,[269]James Ivory,[270]Abbas Kiarostami, François Truffaut,[271]Carlos Saura,[272]Isao Takahata and Gregory Nava[273] citing his influence, and others such as Akira Kurosawa praising his work.[274] The "youthful coming-of-age dramas that flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy", according to the film critic Michael Sragow.[94] Since the 1980s, overlooked Indian filmmakers such as Ghatak[275] and Dutt[276] posthumously gained international acclaim. Baz Luhrmann stated that his successful musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001) was directly inspired by Bollywood musicals.[277] That film's success renewed interest in the then-moribund Western musical genre, subsequently fuelling a renaissance.[278]Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008) was directly inspired by Indian films,[137][279] and is considered to be an "homage to Hindi commercial cinema".[280]
Masala is a style of Indian cinema that mixes multiple genres in one work, pioneered in the early 1970s Bollywood by filmmaker Nasir Hussain,[283][128][142] For example, one film can portray action, comedy, drama, romance and melodrama. These films tend to be musicals with songs filmed in picturesque locations. Plots for such movies may seem illogical and improbable to unfamiliar viewers. The genre is named after masala, a mixture of spices in Indian cuisine.
Parallel cinema, also known as art cinema or the Indian New Wave, is known for its realism and naturalism, addressing the sociopolitical climate. This movement is distinct from mainstream Bollywood cinema and began around the same time as the French and Japanese New Waves. The movement began in Bengal (led by Ray, Sen and Ghatak) and then gained prominence in other regions. The movement was launched by Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin (1953), which was both a commercial and critical success, winning the International Prize at Cannes.[92][284][285] Ray's films include the three instalments of The Apu Trilogy which won major prizes at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice Film Festivals, and are frequently listed among the greatest films of all time.[286][287][288][289]
Some Indian films are known as "multilinguals", filmed in similar but non-identical versions, in different languages. Chittoor Nagayya, was one of the first multilingual filmmakers in India.[67]Alam Ara and Kalidas are earliest examples of bilingual filmmaking in India. According to Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen in the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema (1994), in its most precise form, a multilingual is
a bilingual or a trilingual [that] was the kind of film made in the 1930s in the studio era, when different but identical takes were made of every shot in different languages, often with different leading stars but identical technical crew and music.[291]:15
Rajadhyaksha and Willemen note that in seeking to construct their Encyclopedia, they often found it "extremely difficult to distinguish multilinguals in this original sense from dubbed versions, remakes, reissues or, in some cases, the same film listed with different titles, presented as separate versions in different languages... it will take years of scholarly work to establish definitive data in this respect".[291]:15
Pan-India is a term related to Indian cinema that originated with Telugu cinema as a mainstream commercial cinema appealing to audiences across the country with a spread to world markets. S. S. Rajamouli pioneered the Pan-Indian films movement with his duology of epic action films Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017).[292][293] "Pan-India film" is both a style of cinema and a distribution strategy, designed to universally appeal to audiences across the country and simultaneously released in multiple languages.[294]
Music and songs are a big part of Indian cinema and it's not just for entertainment but they play a crucial role in storytelling. Music and dance are a core part of Indian culture, and films weave them in to tell the story. Songs are used to express emotions that spoken dialogue might struggle to convey. Songs often used to move the plot forward. Lyrics might reveal a character's inner thoughts, motivations, or foreshadow future events. Sometimes the song itself can become a turning point in the story. While some may find them disruptive, songs remain a deeply rooted tradition in Indian cinema, reflecting both its culture and what audiences love.
A filming location is any place where acting and dialogue are recorded. Sites where filming without dialogue takes place are termed a second unit photography site. Filmmakers often choose to shoot on location because they believe that greater realism can be achieved in a "real" place. Location shooting is often motivated by budget considerations.[citation needed]
2022 Indian feature films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification by languages.[302] Note: This table indicates the number of films certified by the CBFC's regional offices in nine cities. The actual number of films produced may be less.
The Assamese-language film industry is based in Assam in northeastern India. It is sometimes called Jollywood, for the Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio. Some films have been well received by critics but they have not yet captured national audiences. The 21st century has produced Bollywood-style Assamese movies which have set new box office records for the small industry.[303]
Bengali
A scene from Dena Paona (1931), the first Bengali talkie
Bhojpuri-language films predominantly cater to residents of western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh and also have a large audience in Delhi and Mumbai due to the migration of Bhojpuri speakers to these cities. International markets for these films developed in other Bhojpuri-speaking countries of the West Indies, Oceania and South America.[310]
Bhojpuri film history begins with Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo (Mother Ganges, I will offer you a yellow sari, 1962, Kundan Kumar).[311] Throughout the following decades, few films were produced. The industry experienced a revival beginning with the hit Saiyyan Hamar (My Sweetheart, 2001, Mohan Prasad).[312] Although smaller than other Indian film industries, these successes increased Bhojpuri cinema's visibility, leading to an awards show[313] and a trade magazine, Bhojpuri City.[314]
The Chhattisgarhi-language film industry of Chhattisgarhi state, central India, is known as Chhollywood. Its beginnings are with Kahi Debe Sandesh (In Black and White, 1965, Manu Nayak)[316][317][318] No Chhattisgarhi films were released from 1971[319] until Mor Chhainha Bhuinya (2000).[citation needed]
The Gujarati-language film industry, also known as Gollywood or Dhollywood, is currently centered in the state of Gujarat. During the silent era, many filmmakers and actors were Gujarati and Parsi, and their films were closely related to Gujarati culture. Twenty film companies and studios, mostly located in Bombay, were owned by Gujaratis and at least 44 major Gujarati directors worked during this era.[320] The first film released in Gujarati was Narsinh Mehta (1932).[320][321][322] More than one thousand Gujarati films have been released.[323]
Gujarati cinema ranges from mythology to history and from social to political. Gujarati films originally targeted a rural audience, but after its revival (c.2005) catered to an urban audience.[320]
Kokborok-language films are mainly produced in Tripura and parts of Bangladesh. These films are also clubbed as 'Tripuri cinema' as a blanket term that alludes to the film industry of Tripura, encompassing films made by and for the people of Tripura and Kokborok speaking people in Bangladesh, regardless of the multitude of languages in which cinema is produced in the region'.[339]
Konkani-language films are mainly produced in Goa, one of India's smallest film regions which produced four films in 2009.[340] The first full-length Konkani film was Mogacho Anvddo (1950, Jerry Braganza).[341] The film's release date, 24 April, is celebrated as Konkani Film Day.[342] An immense body of Konkani literature and art is a resource for filmmakers. Kazar (Marriage, 2009, Richard Castelino) and Ujvaadu (Shedding New Light on Old Age Issues, Kasaragod Chinna) are major releases. The pioneering Mangalorean Konkani film is Mog Ani Maipas.
Maithili cinema is made in the Maithili language. The first full-length film was Kanyadan (1965).[343] There are numerous films made in the Maithili over the years[344] The film Mithila Makhaan (2019) won a National Award in the regional films category.[345]
Marathi films are produced in the Marathi language in Maharashtra state. It the oldest of India's film industries, which began in Kolhapur, moved to Pune and is now based in old Mumbai.[240]
Nagpuri films are produced in the Nagpuri language in Jharkhand state. The first Nagpuri feature film was Sona Kar Nagpur (1992).[358][359] With a mainly rural population and cinema halls closing, non-traditional distribution models may be used.[360]
Gorkha
Gorkha cinema consists of films produced by Nepali-speaking Indians.
The Odia-language film industry of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Odisha state, is also known as Ollywood.[361] The first Odia-language film was Sita Bibaha (1936).[362] The best year for Odia cinema was 1984 when Maya Miriga (Nirad Mohapatra) and Dhare Alua were showcased in Indian Panorama and Maya Miriga was invited to Critics Week at Cannes. The film received the Best Third World Film award at Mannheim Film Festival, Jury Award in Hawaii and was shown at the London Film Festival.
The Punjabi-language film industry, based in Amritsar and Mohali, Punjab, is also known as Pollywood. K. D. Mehra made the first Punjabi film, Sheela (1935). As of 2009, Punjabi cinema had produced between 900 and 1,000 movies.[363]
The cinema of Rajasthan (Rajjywood) refers to films produced in Rajasthan in north-western India. These films are produced in various regional and tribal languages including Rajasthani varieties such as Mewari, Marwari, Hadoti etc.
The Sindhi-language film industry is largely based in Sindh, Pakistan, and with Sindhi speakers in North Gujarat and Southwestern Rajasthan, India, and elsewhere among the Sindhi diaspora. The first Indian-made Sindhi film was Ekta (1940).[364] while the first Sindhi film produced in Pakistan was Umar Marvi (1956).[365] The industry has produced some Bollywood-style films.
The Tamil-language film industry based in Chennai, also known as Kollywood, once served as a hub for all South Indian film industries.[367] The first South Indian talkie film Kalidas (1931, H. M. Reddy) was shot in Tamil. Sivaji Ganesan became India's first actor to receive an international award when he won Best Actor at the Afro-Asian film festival in 1960 and the title of Chevalier in the Legion of Honour by the French Government in 1995.[118]
Tamil films are distributed to Tamil diaspora populations in various parts of Asia, Southern Africa, Northern America, Europe, and Oceania.[368] The industry-inspired Tamil film-making in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada.[citation needed]
The Film and Television Institute of Telangana, Film and Television Institute of Andhra Pradesh, Ramanaidu Film School and Annapurna International School of Film and Media are among the largest film schools in India.[371][372] The Telugu states are home to approximately 2800 theatres, more than any single state in India.[373] Being commercially consistent, Telugu cinema had its influence over commercial cinema in India.[374]
The industry holds the Guinness World Record for the largest film production facility in the world, Ramoji Film City.[375] The Prasads IMAX located in Hyderabad is one of the largest 3D IMAX screens, and is the most attended cinema screen in the world.[241][376][377] As per the CBFC report of 2014, the industry is placed first in India, in terms of films produced yearly.[378] In the years 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2014 the industry has produced the largest number of films in India, exceeding the number of films produced in Bollywood.[379][380]
The Tulu-language film industry based in the port city of Mangalore, Karnataka, is also known as Coastalwood. A small industry, its origins trace to the release of Enna Thangadi (1971) with about one release per year until growth was spurred by the commercial success of Oriyardori Asal (2011). Films are released across the Tulu Nadu cultural region, with some recent films having a simultaneous release in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Arabian Gulf countries.[citation needed]
PVR Cinemas, INOX Leisure etc. are some top multiplexes chains in India, which have cinemas across the nation. Book My Show is the leading tickets selling mobile android application in India, it have tie-up with many such multiplexes. Although PVR and INOX also sell tickets through their application- websites. Due to the convince in tickets booking online most of the viewers pre-book tickets through mobile application. Since advancement of internet service in the country online ticket selling business having robust growth here.[381] 2010 decade onward online platform gained popularity in the nation thus Many film-makers many time prefer to release their films online through one of paid app: Netflix, WFCN, Amazon Prime, JioCinema, SonyLIV, ZEE5, Disney+ Hotstar etc. and avoiding theatrical release.[382]
Awards
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, named for "father of Indian cinema" Dadasaheb Phalke,[45][46][47][48] is given in recognition of lifetime contribution to cinema. It was established by the government of India in 1969, and is the country's most prestigious film award.[383]
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" and "Hollywood". The industry is a part of the larger Indian cinema, which also includes South Indian cinema and other smaller film industries. The term 'Bollywood', often mistakenly used to refer to Indian cinema as a whole, only refers to Hindi-language films, with Indian cinema being an umbrella term that includes all the film industries in the country, each offering films in diverse languages and styles.
Meena Durairaj, known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in South Indian films as well as Hindi cinema. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films She is one of the most sought after actresses in the South Indian film industry. In addition to acting, Meena is also a playback singer, TV judge, and occasional dubbing artist. She has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Nandi Award for Best Actress and Cinema Express Awards. In 1998, she was honoured with the Kalaimamani Award by Government of Tamil Nadu.
Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao, known mononymously as Nagarjuna, is an Indian actor, film producer and entrepreneur who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Apart from Telugu films, he has also acted in a few Hindi abd Tamil films. He received two National Film Awards namely, for Ninne Pelladata (1996), which he produced won the Best Feature Film in Telugu and a Special Mention as actor for Annamayya (1997), ten state Nandi Awards, and three Filmfare Awards South.
Shriya Saran Bhatnagar is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a dancer, she became an actress and made her film debut with the Telugu film Ishtam (2001). She had her first commercial success with Santosham (2002).
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, Telugu cinema has become the largest film industry in India by box-office revenue as of 2021. Telugu films sold 23.3 crore tickets in 2022, the highest among all Indian film industries. As of 2023, Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of movie screens in India.
Asin Thottumkal, known mononyomusly as Asin, is an Indian former actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. Asin is a recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Award, two Filmfare Awards South and four SIIMA Awards. The Government of Tamil Nadu honoured her with the state's highest civilian award Kalaimamani, in 2009. Asin is considered as one of the leading South Indian actresses of the 2000s and is referred to as the "Queen of Kollywood".
Genelia Deshmukh is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil language films. Described in the media as one of the leading South Indian actresses of the 2000s, Deshmukh has received a Filmfare Award South and two Nandi Awards.
Richa Pallod is an Indian model and actress who predominantly appears in Hindi films. Besides Hindi, she has been featured in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam language films. After appearing as a child artiste in Lamhe (1991), she appeared in an award-winning role in Nuvve Kavali (2000), her first film in Telugu.
Yaragudipadi Venkata Mahalakshmi, known professionally as Lakshmi, is an Indian actress known for her works primarily in all 4 Southern Indian language film industries. She has also acted in some Hindi films. Her debut as a full fledged actress happened with the Tamil film Jeevanaamsam in 1968. In the same year, she acted in the Kannada film Goa Dalli CID 999 and Telugu film Bandhavyalu.
Priya Mani Raj, known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, and Kannada films. She is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards South.
Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a neighbourhood in Chennai, and Hollywood.
Marathi Cinema, also known as Marathi film industry, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi language widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based in Mumbai. It is the oldest film industry of India and one of the leaders in filmmaking in the Indian film industry.
Masala films of Indian cinema are those that blend multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still being created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely blend action, comedy, romance, and drama, or melodrama. They also tend to be musicals, often including songs filmed in picturesque locations.
Kalidas is a 1931 Indian biographical film directed by H. M. Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It is notable for being the first sound film in the Tamil and Telugu languages, and the first sound film to be made in a Dravidian language. It was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, hence its namesake; it featured P. G. Venkatesan in the title role and T. P. Rajalakshmi as the female lead, with L. V. Prasad, Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila, and M. S. Santhanalakshmi in supporting roles.
Meera Vasudevan is an Indian actress, who has mainly appeared in films and TV soap's in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language. She received the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize in 2005 and the Kerala State Television Award for Best Actress in 2007. She is well known for her role Sumithra in the Malayalam soap opera Kudumbavilakku on Asianet. Currently she is playing role of Sujatha in Madhuranombarakattu on Zee Keralam.
Vidyasagar is an Indian composer, musician and singer who works predominantly in the Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu film industries. After working with several composers as assistant and conductor, Vidyasagar made his debut as a film composer in the 1989 Tamil film Poo Manam and is nicknamed as "Melody King". Working for over 225 feature films, he is the recipient of one National Award, multiple State Awards and five Filmfare Awards. He is widely regarded as one of the finest and most acclaimed composers in the history of Indian cinema.
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, commonly known as SPB or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian singers of all time. He predominantly worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films and sang in a total of 16 languages.
Cinema of South India, refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making feature films in the four major languages of the region, namely — Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. They are often colloquially referred to as Tollywood, Kollywood,Mollywood and Sandalwood, respectively.
R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi.
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